ThinkCapital Review: rules, challenges and payouts

Platforms2

• ThinkTraderThinkTrader
• TradingViewTradingView

The details

Data feed / broker

ThinkMarkets pricing on ThinkTrader (simulated feed); TradingView connects through the ThinkMarkets broker link

Assets

FXIndicesMetalsEnergyCrypto

Instruments

Forex, indices, gold and silver, oil and crypto CFDs on ThinkTrader. Bolt has no crypto: forex, commodities and indices only.

Leverage and limits

Lightning: forex 1:30, indices 1:5, gold, silver and oil 1:10, crypto 1:1. Dual Step and Nexus use tiered dynamic leverage: forex 1:100 up to 5 lots, stepping down to 1:10 above 20 lots; gold 1:30 up to 0.5 lot; indices up to 1:20. Bolt is dynamic up to 1:50. Margin is multiplied during listed news events. There is no lot-size cap.

Commissions

No commission on any asset on ThinkTrader; you pay the spread. Swaps follow ThinkMarkets' published rates.

Max allocation

$600K$600,000 of funded accounts across all programs at once. Bolt counts toward it and is limited to one account per size ($192,500). Scaling can lift the total to $1,500,000, with Bolt alone capped at $500,000.

Legal entity

TFG (Payments) Limited

1. 01

   News: any fill inside a 4-minute window ends the account

   Strict

   On Lightning, Nexus and Dual Step Intraday, in the challenge and once funded, nothing may fill from 2 minutes before to 2 minutes after a red-folder ForexFactory release, including stop-loss, take-profit and pending-order fills, on any pair. Bolt's window is 5 minutes each side, with no add-on to lift it. A breach ends the account and forfeits profit. Dual Step Swing, and Lightning or Nexus bought with the news add-on, are exempt.

   Example

   US CPI is released at 8:30 New York time. You opened EURUSD at 8:20 and your stop loss fills at 8:29: however small the loss, the account is terminated.

2. 02

   Lightning and Bolt: a trailing floor that only moves up

   Strict

   The maximum loss is a fixed 6% of the starting balance, kept 6% below your peak. Lightning moves it only when a closed trade sets a new balance high; Bolt moves it with peak equity in real time, so floating profit raises it too. At +6% it locks at the starting balance for good. Floating losses that touch it end the account, and withdrawals never lower it.

   Example

   A $100,000 Bolt starts with a $94,000 floor. A floating gain takes equity to $104,000, so the floor rises to $98,000 and stays there even if the trade closes flat. At $106,000 equity the floor locks at $100,000.

3. 03

   Daily loss: a fixed amount from the previous close

   Strict

   The daily limit is a fixed share of the starting balance (3% on Lightning and Bolt, 4% on Dual Step and Nexus) that never changes, reset at 5 PM New York time. Lightning, Nexus and Dual Step Swing measure from the balance at the reset; Dual Step Intraday and Bolt from equity, so floating P&L at the reset moves the next day's floor. Touching it is a hard breach.

   Example

   A $100,000 Lightning closes the day at a $103,000 balance. The limit is still $3,000, so equity must stay above $100,000 the next day.

4. 04

   Dual Step and Nexus: a fixed floor, wider once funded

   Watch out

   Dual Step's maximum loss is 7% of the starting balance in the challenge and 8% once funded; Nexus is 8% throughout. The floor never trails profit or resets, and floating losses, commissions and swaps all count.

   Example

   A $50,000 Dual Step challenge has a $46,500 floor; once funded it becomes $46,000 and stays there however much you make.

5. 05

   Weekends: Intraday and Bolt must be flat

   Strict

   Funded Dual Step Intraday accounts, and Bolt without the Weekend Holding add-on, must be flat before Friday 21:00 UTC; holding past it is a hard breach and immediate termination. The Intraday challenge forbids weekend holding too, without a hard breach. Lightning, Nexus and Dual Step Swing may hold.

   Example

   Friday 21:00 UTC is 5 AM Saturday in Hong Kong and Taipei. A Bolt account with one position still open at that moment is terminated.

6. 06

   Payout qualifying: profitable days, and Bolt's 6% bar

   Watch out

   Funded Lightning, Dual Step and Nexus accounts need 3 profitable days per payout cycle: closed profit of at least 0.5% of the day's starting balance, with the account above its starting balance. Bolt has no day count, but its first payout needs 6% cumulative closed profit and no day above 20% of total profit. All trades must be closed before you request.

   Example

   A $25,000 Bolt needs $1,500 of profit before its first payout. If one day made $600, total profit must reach $3,000 to meet the 20% cap.

7. 07

   Risky and banned strategies: resets without warning

   Watch out

   Consistently risking more than 2.5% of balance per trade, running 60–70% margin use, stacking correlated pairs, or coin-flip swings of equal wins and losses are flagged as gambling. Usually a warning comes first, but a sudden shift to aggressive risk can be reset or breached outright. HFT, grid, cross-account hedging, latency arbitrage, passing services and copying from outside accounts are banned.

8. 08

   Inactivity: at least one trade every 30 days

   Good to know

   Every challenge and funded account needs at least one trade every 30 days. A lapsed challenge is terminated without refund; a lapsed funded account is a hard breach, profits included.

Trading styles

• News trading

  With conditions

  Allowed on Dual Step Swing; Lightning and Nexus need the add-on; banned on Dual Step Intraday and Bolt (5 minutes each side on Bolt).

• EAs / bots

  With conditions

  Allowed by default, but email support with the tool's details first; ThinkTrader has no MT5-style EAs, and HFT bots are banned.

• Copy trading

  With conditions

  Only between your own ThinkCapital accounts, or outward with ThinkCapital as the master; copying in from other prop firms or personal accounts is banned.

• Hedging

  With conditions

  Hedging across accounts, group hedging and grid (reverse) trading are banned.

• Holding overnight

  Allowed

• Holding over the weekend

  With conditions

  Yes on Lightning, Nexus and Dual Step Swing; no on Dual Step Intraday; Bolt needs the Weekend Holding add-on.

• Scalping

  With conditions

  Allowed, but excessive scalping (e.g. most trades closed within 60 seconds) counts as reckless, and HFT is banned.

1. 01 · First payout

   Lightning, Dual Step and Nexus: 14 days after your first funded trade (7 with the weekly add-on), with 3 profitable days. Bolt: 14 days after your first trade (or as soon as eligible with On-Demand) and 6% cumulative closed profit.

2. 02 · After that

   Every 14 days by default; weekly as a challenge add-on, on demand as a Bolt add-on. Processed within 3 business days, usually arriving 24–48 hours later; bank transfers can take up to 5 business days.

3. 03 · Profit split

   80%; 90% with the add-on or after scaling.

Minimum

$100 per request; smaller amounts stay in the account for the next one.

Caps

No per-payout or monthly cap is published; the Bolt terms state there is no monthly cap.

Payout methods

• Crypto (USDT TRC20/ERC20)
• Rise
• ThinkMarkets personal live account

Before you can request

• Close every position before requesting; a breach while the request is pending voids it.
• 3 profitable days per cycle (not on Bolt); only funded-account profit counts.
• Pass KYC (government ID and proof of address from the last 60 days) and sign the agreement.
• Rise carries a flat $50 fee once a month; transfers to a ThinkMarkets personal account are requested by email.
• The fee is refunded with the 3rd payout and not before.

What we read

1. 01ThinkCapital home and program table
2. 02Lightning
3. 03Dual Step
4. 04Nexus
5. 05Bolt instant funding
6. 06Instant Funding update (5 October 2026)
7. 07Client eligibility and restricted countries
8. 08News trading policy
9. 09Payout processing and methods
10. 10Maximum allocation
11. 11Bolt maximum drawdown
12. 12Lightning maximum drawdown
13. 13Dual Step Intraday maximum drawdown
14. 14Minimum profitable trading days
15. 15Gambling and reckless trading
16. 16Leverage, commission and swaps
17. 17Terms of Service (TFG (Payments) Limited)

XSR may earn a commission when you buy with a partner code; it never changes the order of firms. Prop-firm evaluations are simulated accounts sold as a product — most buyers do not pass, and no firm is regulated as a category. Nothing here is investment advice.