TL;DR: E8 Futures is the futures side of E8 Markets, run by E8 Funding LLC of Dallas, Texas. It sells three one-phase futures evaluations on simulated accounts: E8 Signature ($120 to $450 list, with an end-of-day drawdown, a 35% best-day rule and payout caps), E8 Zero Starter ($128 to $438) and E8 Zero Max ($228 to $1,088), where the 40% consistency rule applies only to the challenge and payouts can be requested daily. On October 11, 2026 E8’s own discount page listed code E8 (25% off Signature futures) and code REB8 (35% off Zero futures). Trading is on Tradovate only, with TradingView through the Tradovate connection, and every position is closed at 3:10 pm CT. Accounts bought since October 1, 2026 are limited to 4 payouts each, and the payout caps mean a 100K Signature account can return at most $10,000 before it closes ($8,000 to you at the 80% split). E8 Futures publishes a list of 88 restricted countries and regions that is much longer than its forex list. Trustpilot hides E8 Markets’ rating behind a guideline-breach warning.
Research status: Checked October 11, 2026. That day we read the e8futures.com homepage and its account configurator for every futures plan and size, the discount-code, compare, payouts and terms pages, all 54 public articles in the E8 Futures help centre (helpfutures.e8markets.com), the E8 Markets Trustpilot profile and the Reddit threads we could find. We did not buy an account. Prices, codes and fees are read from the firm’s public pages on October 11, 2026; not verified by purchase.
E8 Futures review verdict: is E8 Futures legit?
E8 Futures is run by an identifiable US company. The terms of service are an agreement with E8 Funding LLC, the footer gives a street address at 4101 McEwen Rd #205, Dallas, TX 75244, the terms are governed by Texas law, and the help centre says the business was founded in 2021 as E8 Funding. Its payouts page lists recent futures payouts, and a Reddit trader reported six payouts from four accounts on the futures platform. That answers the basic “is E8 Futures legit” question: it is an operating company that sells futures evaluations and pays some traders. Whether it suits you depends on its payout limits, which are the main thing to understand before you buy.
What it does well:
- All three futures plans are one phase, with no activation fee and no monthly subscription.
- The drawdown is end-of-day and stops trailing once it reaches your starting balance, so intraday swings do not move it.
- On E8 Zero, the 40% consistency rule applies only to the challenge. Once funded there is no consistency rule, no minimum days and no daily loss limit, and you can request a payout any day.
- News trading is allowed on every futures plan, in the challenge and in the funded stage.
- The help centre is detailed and dated, with worked examples for each rule.
What to weigh before paying:
- Every funded account has a payout limit. Accounts bought since October 1, 2026 can be paid at most 4 times, each payout is capped, and then the account closes and you get a free challenge of the same size.
- Money left in the account to protect the drawdown, or above a cap, is never paid out. Several recent Trustpilot reviewers say this makes the 80% split feel closer to 40%.
- Tradovate is the only platform. NinjaTrader appears in a homepage logo strip, but the futures help centre says Tradovate is the only one available.
- The restricted list for futures has 88 entries, including Turkey, the Philippines, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Indonesia, Vietnam, China, Romania and the UAE.
- All positions are force-closed at 3:10 pm CT, and the help centre gives a 7-day inactivity limit for futures accounts.
- Prices are on the high side for futures evaluations (one Reddit poster ranked E8 among the most expensive futures firms), and the terms say fees are non-refundable, while a help article allows a refund on an unused account.
Our view: E8 Futures is a clear choice if you want a one-phase futures evaluation, no activation fee and daily payouts once funded (E8 Zero). Treat each account as having a fixed lifetime payout ceiling, and work out that ceiling against the fee before you buy.
What E8 Futures is, and how it relates to E8 Markets
E8 Futures is not a separate company. It is the futures market inside E8 Markets, which also sells forex/CFD (“Classic Markets”) and perpetual futures accounts. The site e8futures.com is the same E8 Markets website opened on its futures tab, and futures traders get their own help centre at helpfutures.e8markets.com. Rules for forex and crypto accounts are different, so reviews and rules written about E8 Markets forex accounts often do not apply to E8 Futures.
E8 calls its model “SimFi” (simulated finance). Its help centre is direct about this: “All accounts at E8 Markets are demo accounts within a simulated environment powered by real market data.” Futures market data comes from CME. You pay a one-time challenge fee, pass a one-phase “SimFi Challenge”, then trade a simulated “SimFi Performance” account from which you can request payouts. E8 says it is “not a broker or fund”, does not take deposits, and earns revenue from challenge fees, from research on trader data, and from proprietary trading by a related company using its own money.
Who runs it? The terms name E8 Funding LLC, at 4101 McEwen Rd #205, Dallas, Texas. The footer adds that the website “is subject to the internal rules and policies of Digital Renaissance LLC”, a Puerto Rico company, and that a Saint Lucia entity, E8 Markets Ltd, operates MetaTrader 5 for forex accounts (not futures). The pages we read do not name the people who own the business.
Size claims. The homepage says “Over $79M paid out” and “500,000+ traders worldwide”. A help article dated September 10, 2026 says $71 million paid and “300,000 + registrations”. These are E8’s own figures for all markets, not just futures, and we could not check them.
Pass rate. The footer publishes one: “The evaluation program’s customer pass rate from January 1, 2023, to March 1, 2024, was 17.7%” among those who traded at least once. That covers E8’s older programs, not the current futures plans, but it is a useful reminder that most buyers do not pass.
How E8 Futures works, step by step
- Register on the E8X dashboard and verify your identity. E8 recommends finishing the Veriff ID check before buying, because without it you may not see all products or receive your credentials.
- Configure and buy a challenge. Choose Futures, then E8 Signature, E8 Zero Starter or E8 Zero Max, an account size, and (on Zero) an 80% or 100% payout split. Pay by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or crypto. There is no free trial for futures.
- Trade the SimFi Challenge on Tradovate. Hit the profit target without touching the end-of-day drawdown. Signature can be passed in one day. Zero needs at least three days in practice because no day may exceed 40% of the target.
- Receive the SimFi Performance account. E8 says it usually arrives within 30 to 90 minutes, with a manual KYC check within 24 hours.
- Request payouts. Signature: when the 35% best-day rule, buffer and profitable-day count are met. Zero: any day with at least $100 of new profit. Payouts go through Rise, WorkMarket or (US only) Aeropay.
- Hit the payout limit. After the maximum number of payouts (4 for accounts bought since October 1, 2026), the account is closed and you get a free challenge of the same size to start again.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| One-phase evaluation on all three plans | Each account closes after 4 payouts (accounts bought since October 1, 2026) |
| No activation fee and no monthly billing | Per-payout caps from $600 to $7,000, so profit above the cap stays in the account |
| End-of-day drawdown that locks at your starting balance | Signature keeps a buffer equal to the drawdown that is never paid out |
| E8 Zero: no consistency rule, no minimum days and daily payouts once funded | E8 Zero challenge has a 40% best-day rule and a drawdown that keeps trailing |
| Signature can be passed in one day | Signature needs a 35% best day and 5 profitable days between payouts |
| News trading allowed on every plan and stage | All positions force-closed at 3:10 pm CT; no overnight or weekend holds |
| Optional 100% payout split on Zero | Tradovate is the only platform; no NinjaTrader option documented |
| Median payout time of 11 hours to approval and 24 hours to funds (E8’s figures) | No payouts are processed at weekends |
| Detailed, dated help centre with worked examples | Several pages contradict each other (codes, inactivity, refunds, payout count) |
| Copy trading across your own accounts allowed | Bots, AI tools and semi-automated trading are banned on futures |
E8 Futures pricing and account types
All prices below come from the account configurator on e8futures.com on October 11, 2026. The configurator shows a list price and a discounted price “with code E8 on first order”. All three plans are one-time fees with no activation fee.
E8 Signature (Futures)
| E8 Signature | 25K | 50K | 100K | 150K |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| List price | $120 | $170 | $280 | $450 |
| Price shown with code E8 (25% off) | $90 | $128 | $210 | $338 |
| Profit target (6%) | $1,500 | $3,000 | $6,000 | $9,000 |
| EOD dynamic drawdown | $1,000 | $2,000 | $3,000 | $3,990 |
| Daily pause (funded stage only) | $500 | $1,000 | $2,000 | $3,000 |
| Max contracts | 2 | 4 | 8 | 12 |
| Minimum days to pass | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Funded consistency | 35% best day | 35% best day | 35% best day | 35% best day |
| Payout split | 80% | 80% | 80% | 80% |
The configurator shows a $3,990 drawdown on the 150K. The Signature help article says $4,000 for 150K futures accounts bought after October 1, 2026 and $4,500 for older ones. Check the figure on your checkout screen.
E8 Zero Starter (Futures)
| E8 Zero Starter | 25K | 50K | 100K | 150K |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| List price, 80% split | $128 | $218 | $338 | $438 |
| Price shown with code, 80% split (35% off) | $84 | $142 | $220 | $285 |
| List price, 100% split | $168 | $268 | $418 | $568 |
| Price shown with code, 100% split | $110 | $175 | $272 | $370 |
| Profit target | $1,500 | $3,000 | $6,500 | $9,000 |
| EOD dynamic drawdown | $1,000 | $1,500 | $3,000 | $3,990 |
| Challenge consistency | 40% best day | 40% best day | 40% best day | 40% best day |
| Max per payout | $600 | $1,000 | $1,500 | $2,000 |
E8 Zero Max (Futures)
| E8 Zero Max | 25K | 50K | 100K | 200K |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| List price, 80% split | $228 | $328 | $588 | $1,088 |
| Price shown with code, 80% split (35% off) | $149 | $214 | $383 | $708 |
| List price, 100% split | $288 | $428 | $748 | $1,418 |
| Price shown with code, 100% split | $188 | $279 | $487 | $922 |
| Profit target | $1,500 | $3,000 | $6,500 | $13,500 |
| EOD dynamic drawdown | $1,000 | $1,500 | $3,000 | $6,000 |
| Challenge consistency | 40% best day | 40% best day | 40% best day | 40% best day |
| Max per payout | $1,500 | $3,000 | $5,000 | $7,000 |
Zero Starter and Zero Max have identical rules. E8 says the only difference is that Starter “is cheaper with smaller payout caps” and Max costs more with bigger caps. Note the sizes differ: Starter tops out at 150K, Max at 200K.
Signature, Zero Starter or Zero Max: which plan fits
| Question | E8 Signature | E8 Zero Starter / Max |
|---|---|---|
| Fastest pass | 1 day, no challenge consistency | 3 days in practice (no day above 40% of the target) |
| Drawdown in the challenge | EOD, locks at starting balance | EOD, keeps trailing with profit (no lock in the challenge) |
| Daily limit once funded | 2% daily pause (soft: trading stops until midnight server time) | None |
| Consistency once funded | 35% best day per payout cycle | None |
| Payout timing | On demand; 5 profitable days between payouts (not before the first) | Any day with $100+ to request |
| Buffer kept in the account | Equal to the drawdown ($1,000 to $3,990) | Whatever you leave above the starting balance |
| Payout split | 80% | 80% or 100% (100% costs more) |
| 100K cap per payout | $2,000, then $3,000 from the third payout | $1,500 (Starter) or $5,000 (Max) |
| Funded accounts allowed at once | 5 (up to 3 of 100K or 150K) | 3 |
In short: Signature is the cheapest way to pass quickly but has the most payout conditions. Zero Starter costs about the same as Signature and is the simplest funded account, but its caps are small. Zero Max costs roughly twice as much and has the largest caps, so it only makes sense if you expect to reach them.
What it really costs: worked examples
These use the configurator prices from October 11, 2026. “Lifetime ceiling” is the most one account can pay out under the 4-payout limit and the caps, before the split. Real results are usually lower, because you also need to leave a buffer and meet each payout condition.
| Plan and size | Price with code | Lifetime ceiling (4 payouts) | Most you receive |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signature 25K | $90 | $1,000 + $1,000 + $1,250 + $1,250 = $4,500 | $3,600 at 80% |
| Signature 50K | $128 | $1,250 + $1,250 + $2,000 + $2,000 = $6,500 | $5,200 at 80% |
| Signature 100K | $210 | $2,000 + $2,000 + $3,000 + $3,000 = $10,000 | $8,000 at 80% |
| Signature 150K | $338 | $3,000 + $3,000 + $3,500 + $3,500 = $13,000 | $10,400 at 80% |
| Zero Starter 100K, 80% | $220 | 4 x $1,500 = $6,000 | $4,800 |
| Zero Starter 100K, 100% | $272 | 4 x $1,500 = $6,000 | $6,000 |
| Zero Max 100K, 80% | $383 | 4 x $5,000 = $20,000 | $16,000 |
| Zero Max 100K, 100% | $487 | 4 x $5,000 = $20,000 | $20,000 |
| Zero Max 200K, 100% | $922 | 4 x $7,000 = $28,000 | $28,000 |
Paying for 100%. On Zero Starter 100K, the 100% split costs $52 more ($272 against $220) and is worth up to $1,200 more over four full payouts. On Zero Max 100K it costs $104 more and is worth up to $4,000 more. If you expect to take even one full payout, the 100% option pays for itself.
Failing and retrying. After a failed account E8 offers a 10% discount to restart with the same settings, valid for 7 days. A Signature 50K bought at $128, failed, and retried at 10% off the $170 list price would cost $128 + $153 = $281 for two attempts. E8’s pages do not say whether the retry discount and code E8 can be combined; checkout accepts one code per order.
Daily payouts burn the limit. On Zero you can request as little as $100 a day, but each request counts toward the 4-payout limit. Four $500 requests on a Zero Max 100K would close the account after $2,000, when the same account could have paid $20,000. Wait until you can take close to the cap.
E8 Futures discount codes and the current sale
On October 11, 2026 E8’s own discount-code page (e8futures.com/e8-markets-discount-code) listed these codes:
| Code | Discount | Applies to | Conditions shown | Expiry shown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| E8 | 25% off | E8 Signature (Futures) | All purchases | None given |
| REB8 | 35% off | E8 Zero Max and E8 Zero Starter (Futures) | All purchases | None given |
| E8ARC | 30% or 50% off | Classic Markets and Perpetual accounts only, not futures | All purchases, plus a free account after a payout | Site banner: “until 25th OCT” |
Points to watch:
- The site-wide banner (“E8 Winter ARC, up to 50% off, code E8ARC”) is for forex and perpetual accounts. The discount page does not list E8ARC for futures.
- The configurator shows the Zero prices at 35% off “with code E8 on first order”, while the discount page gives 35% on Zero to code REB8 and 25% on Signature to code E8 for “all purchases”. Enter the code at checkout and click Validate: E8 says checkout “will confirm that the code is working and also show the amount and the final price”.
- The homepage also advertises a “$100K Challenge, 40% off, $353, $588 one-time” card, which matches a Zero Max 100K at 40% off, but no code is named for it. Check whether checkout reproduces $353 before relying on it.
- Only one code can be used per order. A help article calls E8 an “all-around discount code” that “is always available”, and says weekly Discord events give out further codes or free challenges.
- Coupon sites list other E8 codes. We only reprint codes E8 itself publishes; we could not confirm the others with the firm.
The EOD dynamic drawdown, with worked examples
E8 calls its drawdown the “EOD Dynamic Drawdown”. Your loss level is your highest end-of-day balance minus the drawdown amount. It moves up only when you close the day higher, “NOT when your equity increases”. If equity or balance touches the loss level at any time, the account is closed, even if the automatic liquidation finishes above it.
Where it locks. On Signature (challenge and funded) and on a funded Zero account, the loss level locks at your starting balance once your closed profit equals the drawdown amount, or when you take your first payout. In the Zero challenge it does not lock: the loss level keeps rising with every new closing high, even above your starting balance.
Example 1, Signature 50K challenge ($2,000 drawdown, $3,000 target):
| Day | Intraday high | Closing balance | Loss level for the next day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start | – | $50,000 | $48,000 |
| 1 | $51,300 | $50,800 | $48,800 |
| 2 | $51,100 | $50,300 | $48,800 (no new closing high) |
| 3 | $52,400 | $52,100 | $50,000, locked (closed profit passed $2,000) |
| 4 | $53,200 | $53,000 | $50,000, target reached |
Example 2, Zero 50K challenge ($1,500 drawdown, $3,000 target, no day above $1,200):
| Day | Day’s profit | Closing balance | Loss level for the next day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start | – | $50,000 | $48,500 |
| 1 | +$1,000 | $51,000 | $49,500 |
| 2 | +$1,200 | $52,200 | $50,700 (above the starting balance) |
| 3 | -$400 | $51,800 | $50,700 |
| 4 | +$1,200 | $53,000 | Passed: $3,000 profit, best day exactly 40% |
On day 3 of the Zero example a loss of $1,100 or more would have failed the account, even though the balance was still above $50,000. That is the main difference between the two plans’ challenges.
Daily pause (Signature funded accounts only). E8 takes 2% of your starting balance as a fixed dollar amount ($1,000 on a 50K). Each day your pause line is that day’s starting balance minus the fixed amount. If equity falls to it, trading stops until 00:00 server time, but the account is not failed. Positions are not closed instantly at the line, and E8 says it will not rebalance a loss that goes past 2%, so it suggests capping trades at $1,600 to $1,800 of risk on a 100K.
The 40% and 35% best-day rules, with a calculator table
- Zero challenge, 40% of the target: no single day may make more than 40% of the profit target. On a 100K Zero ($6,500 target) the cap is $2,600 a day. If a day goes over, your effective target becomes that day divided by 0.40; a $3,000 day raises the target to $7,500. You do not fail; you keep trading without beating that day.
- Signature funded, 35% of cycle profit: your best day must be no more than 35% of the profit made since your last payout. If it is higher, keep trading until total profit catches up. After each payout the best day and the profit count reset to zero, and profit left from earlier cycles does not count.
| Your best day | Signature: cycle profit needed (best day / 0.35) | Zero challenge: effective target (best day / 0.40, or the normal target if higher) |
|---|---|---|
| $500 | $1,428.57 | Normal target |
| $700 | $2,000 | Normal target |
| $1,000 | $2,857.14 | $2,500, so a 25K needs $2,500 instead of $1,500 |
| $1,200 | $3,428.57 | $3,000 (exactly the 50K target) |
| $1,500 | $4,285.71 | $3,750 on a 50K |
| $2,600 | $7,428.57 | $6,500 (exactly the 100K target) |
| $3,000 | $8,571.43 | $7,500 on a 100K |
Both rules come with the same warning: splitting one winning trade into several days, or closing and reopening the same position, “may result in all profit from that position being consolidated into a single day”.
E8 Futures trading rules: hours, news, contracts and banned strategies
Trading hours and overnight holds
The futures help centre says permitted trading runs from 17:15 to 15:10 CT, and “all open positions are being forced to close every day at 15:10 CT”. You cannot hold overnight or over the weekend on Signature or Zero. The Signature article puts the same rule in server time (closed by 23:00, reopening at 00:15); server time is UTC+3, moving to UTC+2 in early November. Use 3:10 pm CT as your hard stop and close earlier on CME holiday schedules, which E8 posts in its help centre.
News trading
Allowed on Zero and Signature, in the challenge and the funded stage, “without any restrictions”. E8 still recommends avoiding high-impact releases because “slippage may occur” and it “cannot protect users from positions closing beyond their expected level”. That matters most near the daily pause on Signature and near the loss level on any plan.
Contract limits and how micros count
E8 sets a number of contracts per account and converts it into margin: each contract allowance equals $10,000. Full-size contracts (ES, NQ, YM, CL, GC and most others) use $10,000, micros (MES, MNQ, MGC, MCL) use $1,000, and silver uses $2,000. So a 4-contract account can hold 4 ES, or 40 MES, or 2 NQ plus 20 MNQ.
| Account | 25K | 50K | 100K | 150K / 200K |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Signature (challenge and funded) | 2 | 4 | 8 | 12 (150K) |
| Zero challenge | 3 | 4 | 8 | 10 |
| Zero funded, at start | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Zero funded, after 1.5% locked profit | 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 |
| Zero funded, after 3% locked profit | 3 | 5 | 8 | 10 |
Note that a funded Zero account starts with fewer contracts than its challenge. A 100K Zero trader who passed with 8 contracts starts funded with 3, and unlocks 5 the day after closing with $1,500 profit and 8 after $3,000.
Front-month contracts only
E8 requires every trade to be in the front-month contract, which it defines as the one with the highest volume. Trading the wrong month “may also result in termination of your account or deduction of profit”. Check the volume before rollover week on index futures and before expiry on energies and metals.
Banned strategies
- Bots, AI tools and any semi-automated or fully automated trading. E8’s product table also says expert advisors are not allowed on futures.
- High-frequency trading, defined as more than 300 trades a day.
- Tick scalping: at least 50% of your profit must come from trades held 10 seconds or longer.
- Holding a position within 2% of a product’s exchange lock limit.
- Hedging across accounts or with other users. Futures accounts are netting accounts, so an opposite order in the same account simply closes your position.
- Exploiting slow data or price errors, trading illiquid markets, “account rolling” and “all-or-nothing” trading.
Copy trading across accounts that all belong to you is allowed. Copying signal services or trading as a team is not. There is no hard per-trade risk limit, but E8 says its most successful traders risk 1 to 1.5% per trade idea and its risk team may contact traders it sees as “overly aggressive” or ask for a short interview. The penalty for a banned practice is termination with a refund of that account’s fee, and loss of profit on a funded account.
E8 Futures payouts: caps, buffers, the 4-payout limit and timing
The 4-payout limit
For futures accounts bought after October 1, 2026, both the Signature and Zero help articles set a maximum of 4 payouts per account. Accounts bought before that keep a limit of 5. After the last payout, “the cycle is closed, the account is deactivated, and you move on with the free Challenge of the same size”. The Zero article contradicts itself once (it says 4, then describes what happens “after you request 5 payouts”), and E8’s product overview still says 5, so confirm the number for your account in the dashboard.
Signature payouts
| Signature futures payout caps (bought after Oct 1, 2026) | 25K | 50K | 100K | 150K |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payouts 1 and 2 | $1,000 | $1,250 | $2,000 | $3,000 |
| Payouts 3 and 4 | $1,250 | $2,000 | $3,000 | $3,500 |
| Buffer that stays in the account | $1,000 | $2,000 | $3,000 | $3,990 to $4,500 |
| Profitable day (0.3% closed profit) | $75 | $150 | $300 | $450 |
Conditions for each Signature payout: a best day of no more than 35% of the cycle’s profit, at least $100 net to you (a $125 request at 80%), the buffer left in place, and 5 profitable days since the last payout (this does not apply to the first one). Only profit made in the current cycle can be withdrawn; anything left from a previous cycle stays as buffer.
Worked example, Signature 100K funded. You start at $100,000 with a $3,000 drawdown and a $3,000 buffer. Over four days you make $1,500, $1,400, $1,200 and $900, a total of $5,000 with a best day of 30%. Your balance is $105,000; after keeping the $3,000 buffer you can take $2,000, the first-payout cap, and receive $1,600. Your loss level is locked at $100,000. For payout 2 you need 5 new days of at least $300 and a new best day under 35%: five days of $400 make $2,000, which you withdraw ($1,600 to you). Payouts 3 and 4 allow $3,000 each, so you need $3,000 of new profit per cycle with no day above $1,050. After payout 4 you have received $8,000 in total, the account closes with $3,000 still in it, and you re