Rene Balke Passes First 200K FTMO Challenge, Reaches Maximum Allocation with Firm

---

Trader and YouTube content creator Rene Balke has officially passed his first €200,000 FTMO challenge, achieving the maximum allocation permitted by the proprietary trading firm. The milestone follows a steady progression through multiple funded accounts and marks a significant turning point in Balke’s prop trading career.

Balke shared details of the accomplishment in a recent video, where he broke down his trading strategy, performance metrics, and account management practices. According to platform data, Balke reached the €10,000 profit target—5% of the €200,000 verification account—on July 8. The challenge was completed within one month and included a total of 140 trades, with a win rate below 50% but a positive average reward-to-risk ratio.

A key component of Balke’s approach is the use of fully automated expert advisors (EAs). All trades were executed by algorithms running on remote servers, without manual intervention. Balke emphasized that this strategy allowed him to maintain a high consistency score across multiple FTMO accounts. He averaged a 1% risk per trade—approximately $2,000—and kept within FTMO’s daily and maximum drawdown limits.

Balke attributed the bulk of his profits to a strategy labeled “Range Breaker EA” applied on the USD/JPY pair, which generated nearly $25,000. Other strategies, such as “Go Long” and “Ninja Scalper,” produced mixed results, with losses recorded on indices like US30, US100, and gold. Balke used a diversified strategy portfolio, trading across multiple markets including GBP/USD, DAX (Germany 40), and others.

Notably, the final trade that pushed the account over the profit threshold came from GBP/USD—a symbol that had underperformed in previous months. Balke cited this as further evidence of the importance of diversification in strategy and instrument selection.

Upon approval of the latest 200K account, Balke will hold the following FTMO allocations:

• One 125K scaled-up account
• Two 100K accounts (including one in drawdown)
• One 200K account pending final approval

This brings his total funding to €425,000, the maximum allocation allowed by FTMO at the time of reporting.

Balke also shared a retrospective look at his FTMO journey, which began with seven failed challenges under the old 30-day rule. Since then, he has passed multiple accounts and accumulated over €2,500 in net profits through FTMO alone, not including prior gains from his other live and challenge accounts.

All of Balke’s trading is conducted via algorithmic systems he developed himself. He has actively promoted the benefits of automated trading and publishes free educational content, including programming tutorials, on his YouTube channel.

Rene Balke continues to document his progress transparently and has stated that future updates on account performance, new challenges, and system improvements will be published regularly.

---