One Prop Trader a Day - Silviu Dumitraș: Know Your Data, Know Your Strategy

Quick intro - who are you, and what do you trade?

I am 26 years old, from Romania. I trade basically all the markets, but I am primarily focused on US and EU indexes in the morning and afternoon sessions.

When did you become a funded trader? What changed for you at that point?

I first became funded in 2021, back when the prop firm industry wasn’t that popular — I still remember my FTMO account. Life changed completely, because I was able to make a living trading prop firms, in every aspect.

What’s the first thing you bought or paid off with trading money that felt like proof it was working?

A vacation. I am very much about “pay the trader” — if you earned the money, reward your brain every time you make a payout. Always allocate a certain percentage of your payouts to pay yourself.

How many times did you fail before getting funded? What kept you going?

Around 3 to 4 times before my first actual payout. What kept me going was data — I knew my strategy worked and it was just a matter of time until I got funded and withdrew properly. Know your data, know your strategy, and study the law of large numbers.

What’s the single most expensive lesson you’ve paid for?

Trading is not only about technicals — technicals are just one part of a complete strategy. It’s about risk management too. Fix that first, especially with prop firms, where you need flexible risk management based on which part of the challenge you’re in: phase one, phase two, or funded.

What was your lowest point in trading? Did you ever consider quitting?

Never quitting. My lowest point was Covid, in 2020, when I lost around €7,000 on EURUSD because I moved my stop loss while price ran against me. One of the most important lessons I ever learned: have a stop loss, and don’t move it.

Did trading ever affect you mentally or emotionally?

The only thing that really affected me mentally is the stress. I manage it by doing a lot of sport so I can detach myself — that’s the only way I’ve found that works.

What does your trading style look like today?

I do both swing and intraday. For swing I use D1, H4, and H1; for day trading, H1, M30, and M15. Assets are indexes and currencies. I use ICT and SMC concepts together with fundamental analysis and sentiment to find the best entry point.

What’s a typical trading day for you?

One hour watching charts, executing, and managing at the open of the EU session; one hour at the open of the NY session; and about 25 minutes at the end of the day for execution and management.

Walk us through your most recent losing trade - what you’d do differently.

Just don’t be that greedy — that’s what I’d change. I try to go for the big run, 1:3 or 1:4. If I went with 1:1 or 1:1.5 risk-reward, my profitability would change a lot.

What’s a popular trading rule or piece of advice that you completely ignore - and why?

I have MT5 installed on my phone and I watch it non-stop.

Do people around you understand what you do? How do they react?

No. They only know I do something related to financial markets. I try not to talk about it.

How has trading impacted your lifestyle?

In a better way, obviously. Payouts have given me a lot of vacations with my family, and a house I recently purchased from payouts across multiple firms.

What separates you from someone who washed out at their third evaluation?

Consistency, understanding of the edge, understanding of the law of large numbers, and having a mentor.

What advice would you give yourself one year ago?

Listen to your damn mentor more!

If prop firms disappeared tomorrow, would you still be trading? Doing what?

Broker accounts, obviously. Nothing would change dramatically — only the risk approach and the account size.

If I gave you a $1,000,000 funded account today, what would you do in the first 7 days?

Trade US and EU indexes with 0.20% risk per trade, 1:1 risk-reward, targeting 2 to 3% a week.