Apex Live Account Rules: Drawdown, Bonus Vault, and Payouts

Apex’s live program starts selected traders with one account, a $0 balance, and a $3,000 end-of-day drawdown. Its FAQ specifies a 90/10 profit split and daily payout requests above the safety net. Selection closes simulated accounts; declining ends Apex membership with a final $3,000 payment.

The program, as Apex documents it

Apex’s Live Prop Trading Program FAQ makes selection discretionary. Three consecutive withdrawals from one Performance Account (PA), for example, are a monitoring guideline, not an automatic qualification. Once selected, a trader cannot keep Apex live and simulated accounts together. Evaluations and PAs close; only evaluations still active at selection receive refunds.

The live account itself:

Rule	What the FAQ says
Starting balance	$0 — not based on 25K/50K/100K sim sizes
Drawdown	$3,000 end-of-day
Safety net	At +$3,100 profit, the drawdown locks at +$100; at $100 or less, the account closes
Level 1 (up to $10K profit)	10 minis / 100 micros, no daily loss limit, no consistency rule
Level 2 ($10K–$25K)	25 minis, $5,000 daily loss limit
Level 3 ($25K–$50K)	30 minis, $10,000 daily loss limit
Level 4 ($50K+)	Custom review with a risk manager
Payouts	90/10 split, daily requests, $500 minimum; approved withdrawals are sent to payment processing within 48 hours. Ongoing withdrawals come from profits above the $3,100 safety net.
Scaling	At $4,500 profit, request a second account; repeat per account up to five, capped by how many PAs you held at graduation
Account cost	No monthly or up-front fee for the live account itself

The FAQ prohibits automation, algorithms, group trading, and trade copying with other traders. All trades must close by 4:50 PM ET; an account with no trading for 30 days may be closed. Follow your live agreement for any proposed copier setup involving your own accounts.

The Bonus Vault, in Apex’s own words

The Bonus Vault tracks eligible simulated profit balances from closed PAs. Apex calls it “simply a tracking report,” not cash or live trading capital. Eligible traders may receive a bonus equal to 20% of monthly live withdrawal requests, deducted from that tracked balance. Payment is subject to Apex approval and eligibility, including an active live account on the 15th of the following month.

The FAQ’s first-month rate remains inconsistent in the September 15, 2026 check: its detailed answer limits the 40% bonus to the first live account, while the summary table describes the first month of each new account. Our August report recorded the detailed answer changing between July 13 and August 14, 2026; the news log retains that history. Apex says its agreement and transition paperwork control when terms conflict.

At a constant 20% rate, a $46,000 tracked balance would require $230,000 in eligible live withdrawal requests to exhaust it. That calculation excludes the introductory 40% rate and assumes continued eligibility; it is not a guaranteed payout.

Declining the invitation

Declining deactivates the Apex member account and ends access to evaluations, PAs, and other Apex services. Apex specifies a final $3,000 payment within 30 days; Bonus Vault amounts and other simulated balances are forfeited. The FAQ does not establish a right to open a new Apex account afterward.

If the live account fails

Apex’s Second Chance Eval-to-Live costs $199 per attempt, with no attempt limit. Its requirements include five trading days, a $4,000 profit target, $2,000 trailing drawdown, 40% consistency, and $250 minimum daily profit. Each $1,000 of daily loss triggers a flatten event; trading may continue that day.

The full Bonus Vault balance remains available through three live attempts, subject to eligibility. A risk manager decides whether to offer a fourth round; if offered, only 50% of the remaining vault balance stays available.

The August 2026 dispute and source history

Our August 17 report compared Apex’s Legacy PA Payout Parameters with archived captures, including May 27, 2026. The earlier page included a guideline about withdrawing profits before the sixth payout when transferred to live. That bullet was absent from the later page, without an edit note. It remains absent from the current page checked September 15. Via Ascendary first highlighted the change in July.

The original reporting also included these attributed accounts:

• Founder interview, August 14: In Words of Rizdom’s interview, Darrell Martin described the one-account start, roughly $4,500 scaling step, and onboarding delays of up to 60 days.
• Selected trader, July: Via Ascendary reported Martin Stejskal’s decision to decline after an April 14 invitation and approximately $46,000 of PA balances being assigned to the Bonus Vault. This is the trader’s account of the dispute.

What it means for NinjaTrader and Rithmic traders

• Use the live onboarding instructions. The FAQ names Tradovate and NinjaTrader. Other charting platforms must work with Ninja Brokerage and require a live license rather than a trial or demo license. The FAQ does not identify a Rithmic route for the live program.
• Keep simulated-account setup separate. If Apex issued Rithmic credentials for your evaluation or PA, use the Apex connection guide. Those instructions do not establish the connection method for a new live account.
• Budget from your assigned data package. The FAQ classifies live traders as professional for data purposes and estimates feeds at about $140 monthly. Apex covers the initial main data fee; additional instrument feeds are the trader’s responsibility.
• Recheck tool permissions. Automation and algorithms are prohibited. The FAQ also bars group trading and copying with other traders; do not infer permission for your own copier workflow from a working connection.

Originally checked against the August 14, 2026 FAQ capture and rechecked August 17. Current written rules reviewed September 15, 2026. Historical interviews and archive comparisons above remain dated reporting. Your Apex agreement and transition paperwork control when terms conflict.

Correction — September 15, 2026: The earlier blanket statement that all trade copying was prohibited exceeded the FAQ’s wording. This version distinguishes its explicit prohibitions from permissions it does not establish. It also clarifies that the 20% Bonus Vault calculation uses eligible withdrawal requests and is subject to approval, rather than guaranteeing a payment.