Quick Answer — Breakout Daily Loss Limit
- • Breakout's daily loss limit is 3% on all 1-Step accounts (Classic, Pro, Turbo) and 5% on all 2-Step accounts.
- • The limit resets at 00:30 UTC every day, calculated as a percentage of the previous day's closing balance — not the starting balance.
- • Both realized and unrealized losses count. If your equity (including open positions) touches the floor, the account is permanently closed.
- • On a $100K 1-Step account with a $105K balance, the daily limit is $3,150 (3% of $105K), giving you a floor of $101,850 for that day.
- • The daily loss limit and max drawdown are independent — you can breach either one at any time.
Researched in depth: I've gone through every Breakout rule document, help center article, and community discussion to map out exactly how their drawdown, daily loss, and payout mechanics work. This breakdown reflects verified data from their official sources and real trader experiences.
Breakout's rules are simpler than most crypto prop firms — no consistency rules, no minimum days, no time limits. I broke it all down in my complete Breakout rules guide. For the full picture, read my complete Breakout review. For the absolute latest, check Breakout's website or their help center.
The daily loss limit at Breakout is 3% on 1-Step accounts and 5% on 2-Step accounts, recalculated every day at 00:30 UTC based on the prior day's closing balance. It's the rule that kills accounts fastest because it gives you the least room per trading session.
The max drawdown is your lifetime cap. The daily loss limit is your single-day cap. Most traders obsess over the max drawdown and underestimate the daily limit. But on a bad day with overleveraged positions, it's the 3% daily limit that ends you first.
How Is the Daily Loss Limit Calculated?
Breakout recalculates the daily loss limit at 00:30 UTC every day. The calculation uses your account's closing balance at that moment.
Formula: Daily Loss Floor = Balance at 00:30 UTC × (1 - Daily DD%)
On a 1-Step account with a $105,000 balance at 00:30 UTC:
- Daily DD% = 3%
- Daily Loss Floor = $105,000 × 0.97 = $101,850
- Available daily risk = $3,150
On a 2-Step account with the same $105,000 balance:
- Daily DD% = 5%
- Daily Loss Floor = $105,000 × 0.95 = $99,750
- Available daily risk = $5,250
This recalculation matters. After a winning day, your balance is higher, so the dollar amount of your daily limit increases. More room. After a losing day, the balance is lower and the limit tightens. Less room exactly when you're more likely to revenge trade.
What Counts Toward the Daily Loss?
Both realized and unrealized losses count toward the daily loss limit. Breakout monitors your equity in real-time, not your closed-trade balance.
If you close three losing trades for $1,500 total and then open a new position that's down $2,000 in unrealized P&L, your total drawdown for the day is $3,500. On a 1-Step account with a $3,150 daily limit, you've already breached.
It doesn't matter that the open trade might recover. The equity check is continuous. The moment your equity drops to or below the daily floor, the account closes.
Commissions and fees also count. Breakout's 0.04% per-side trading fee reduces your equity on every trade. On a $500K notional position (5:1 leverage on $100K), round-trip fees are $400. That eats directly into your daily loss budget.
When Does the Daily Loss Limit Reset?
At 00:30 UTC every day, without exception. Crypto markets run 24/7, so there's no "market close" to anchor the reset to. Breakout picked a fixed UTC time.
For US traders:
- 00:30 UTC = 7:30 PM ET / 4:30 PM PT (during EST)
- 00:30 UTC = 8:30 PM ET / 5:30 PM PT (during EDT)
For European traders:
- 00:30 UTC = 1:30 AM CET / 2:30 AM CEST
If you're trading through the reset window, your daily limit recalculates mid-session. An open position that was safe before 00:30 UTC might suddenly be closer to the new floor if the recalculation uses a lower closing balance.
The Relationship Between Daily Loss and Max Drawdown
These are two independent rules running simultaneously. You can breach either one.
The daily loss limit protects against single-day disasters. The max drawdown protects against slow bleeding over time. On a Classic 1-Step $100K account:
- Max drawdown floor: $94,000 (permanent)
- Daily loss limit: roughly $3,000 per day (recalculated)
You could have five consecutive $2,500 losing days without breaching the daily limit on any individual day. But your total loss of $12,500 would breach the $6,000 max drawdown.
Conversely, one catastrophic day where you lose $3,100 breaches the daily limit immediately, even if your account is still far above the max drawdown floor.
Both rules check equity. Both trigger permanent closure. Plan around the tighter constraint on any given day.
Position Sizing Around the Daily Loss Limit
The safest approach: never risk more than half your daily limit on any single trade.
On a 1-Step account with a 3% daily limit:
- Target max risk per trade: 1.5% of the balance at 00:30 UTC
- On a $100K account: approximately $1,500 per trade
- With 5:1 leverage on BTC (controlling $500K notional), a 0.3% move against you hits that $1,500 threshold
On a 2-Step account with a 5% daily limit:
- Target max risk per trade: 2.5% of the balance
- On a $100K account: approximately $2,500 per trade
- More breathing room, but still one bad trade away from danger
The 50% rule gives you room for a second trade even if the first one stops out at max loss. It prevents the "I lost 2.8% on one trade and now I have 0.2% left for the day" situation where you're effectively locked out of trading.
| Account | Daily DD% | Daily $ Limit | Safe Per-Trade Risk | BTC Move to Hit Limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-Step $50K | 3% | $1,500 | $750 | 0.3% at full leverage |
| 1-Step $100K | 3% | $3,000 | $1,500 | 0.3% at full leverage |
| 2-Step $50K | 5% | $2,500 | $1,250 | 0.5% at full leverage |
| 2-Step $100K | 5% | $5,000 | $2,500 | 0.5% at full leverage |
Common Mistakes That Trigger the Daily Loss Limit
Overleveraging on news events. BTC can move 3-5% in minutes during major economic announcements or exchange events. A full 5:1 leveraged position means a 3% BTC move translates to 15% account impact. Your 3% daily limit gets wiped three times over.
Holding through the 00:30 UTC reset. If you're in a losing position at reset time, the new daily limit calculates from your current (lower) balance. You start the new day with less room, and any further decline brings you closer to breach.
Ignoring swap fees on overnight positions. The 0.09% swap fee at 12:25 AM UTC can be the difference between safe and breached when you're close to the daily floor. On a $500K notional position, that's $450 — nearly a third of your remaining daily budget on some accounts.
Multiple losing trades without stopping. Three losing trades at 1% each hits 3%. Done. The daily limit doesn't care about your conviction on the fourth trade.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does the Breakout daily loss limit reset?
The Breakout daily loss limit resets at 00:30 UTC every day. The new limit is calculated as a percentage of the account balance at that moment — 3% for 1-Step accounts and 5% for 2-Step accounts. Crypto markets are open 24/7, so this reset happens during live trading.
Does the Breakout daily loss limit use starting balance or current balance?
Breakout calculates the daily loss limit using the prior day's closing balance at 00:30 UTC, not the original starting balance. This means the dollar amount of your daily limit changes daily — it grows when your balance increases and shrinks when your balance decreases.
Do open positions count toward the Breakout daily loss limit?
Yes. Breakout monitors equity in real-time, which includes unrealized P&L from open positions. If your equity drops to or below the daily loss floor at any moment during the day, the account is permanently closed. You don't need to close the losing trade for it to count.
What is the difference between daily loss limit and max drawdown at Breakout?
The daily loss limit is a per-day cap (3% or 5% of previous day's balance, resetting at 00:30 UTC). The max drawdown is a lifetime cap (3-8% of starting balance). Both run simultaneously. You can breach either one at any time, and both result in permanent account closure.
Can you breach the daily loss limit with one trade at Breakout?
Yes. A single trade that moves against you by more than the daily loss percentage triggers a breach. On a 1-Step $100K account with a $3,000 daily limit, one BTC position at 5:1 leverage only needs a 0.6% adverse move to breach. Size your positions accordingly.
Is the daily loss limit tighter on 1-Step or 2-Step at Breakout?
Breakout 1-Step accounts have a 3% daily loss limit. 2-Step accounts have 5%. The 2-Step daily limit is significantly more generous — nearly double the room. This is one advantage of the 2-Step path that partially offsets the trailing drawdown disadvantage.
Do trading fees count toward the Breakout daily loss limit?
Yes. Trading fees (0.04% per side) and swap fees (0.09% per day) reduce your equity and count toward the daily loss calculation. On high-volume trading days, cumulative fees can consume a meaningful portion of your daily loss budget.
How much can I risk per trade at Breakout?
A conservative approach is to limit risk to 1-1.5% of your balance per trade on 1-Step accounts (half the 3% daily limit). On 2-Step accounts, you can extend to 2-2.5% (half the 5% daily limit). This ensures a single losing trade doesn't lock you out of the day or push you close to breach.
Does the daily loss limit change during the funded phase at Breakout?
No. The daily loss limit percentages remain the same in both evaluation and funded phases — 3% for 1-Step and 5% for 2-Step. The calculation method (prior day's closing balance at 00:30 UTC) also stays identical.
Can I check my current daily loss limit in the Breakout dashboard?
Yes. Breakout provides real-time equity monitoring in the Breakout Terminal, and the current daily loss equity limit is visible on the Breakout Dashboard. Your equity is displayed in the trading terminal at all times so you can track how close you are to the floor.
The bottom line: Breakout's daily loss limit is the rule you'll interact with most often. The 3% on 1-Step accounts is tight for crypto — a single overleveraged BTC trade in the wrong direction ends your day and your account. The 2-Step's 5% is more forgiving but comes with trailing drawdown. Build your position sizing around half the daily limit per trade and you'll never sweat the reset. Ignore this rule and you'll blow accounts faster than you can reload them.
