CTI times the stop, FTMO times the news window
City Traders Imperium requires a stop-loss on every trade, and the placement expectation is inside 60 seconds of the fill, with a 2,000-request day on MT5 and Match-Trader. A click you meant to bracket after the next candle is already late. FTMO does not publish that 60-second stopwatch on the standard challenge. It does publish a two-minute news block on Standard funded accounts, and it forces Standard flat before the weekend.
CTI allows overnight and weekend holding, and it bans straddling high-impact news inside two minutes on funded accounts. The higher-of rule at 00:00 server time means a weekend winner can raise Monday's daily floor. FTMO anchors to day-start balance plus floating PnL at 00:00 CE(S)T. A hold that is legal on CTI can be illegal on FTMO Standard and expensive on CTI's next morning for a different reason.
Three days of $500, and a salary that is not the target
Both 2-step paths ask for 10% and then 5%. CTI also wants three profitable days of at least 0.5% each. On $100,000 that is $500 of net gain on three separate days, inside a phase target of $10,000. FTMO wants four minimum trading days and does not publish that 0.5% profitable-day test. CTI lists three minimum days and no time limit. The fee gap is $31.
The split at CTI runs from 80% toward 100%, plus a $500 monthly salary for qualified funded traders. Payouts come every 14 days, or on demand once you hit 10% profit. FTMO pays 80% to 90% starting 14 days after the first funded trade. The salary is a funded perk. It does not add $500 of daily loss room. Create a Venasri login before you start counting the salary against the $5,000 day.
The 1-step books are not twins
CTI's 1-step uses a 4% day and a smart or trailing 6% maximum, $4,000 and $6,000 on $100,000. FTMO's 1-step uses a 3% day and a 10% end-of-day trail, $3,000 of daily room and a $10,000 trail. A trader who passes a CTI 2-step and then buys an FTMO 1-step with the same lot will meet a $3,000 day they have never practiced.
Self-owned EAs and risk managers are allowed at CTI. FTMO allows EAs across MT5, MT4, cTrader, and DXtrade inside the same 2,000-request idea. Bot controls should attach the stop at the fill on the CTI login so the 60-second clock is not your memory. On the FTMO login the same control should refuse new risk inside the Standard news window.
Flatten both 2-steps at $4,250, then respect the stopwatch
Equity Guard at $4,250 covers the shared $5,000 day on both $100,000 2-step books. It does not satisfy CTI's stop rule. A flatten at $4,250 can still be a naked trade for the first minute, and the firm can already have scored it. Put the stop on the order. Let the guard be the second line, for the day when the stop is real and the idea is wrong.
If CTI open profit will still be alive at midnight, partial it. The higher of balance or equity can reprice the next 5%. FTMO Swing can hold the weekend if you accept 1:30 leverage. CTI can hold it and then hand you a richer Monday anchor. The $500 salary does not offset either outcome.
