Prop Firm Rules

Prohibited Practices

Micro scalping

• Micro scalping refers to a trading tactic where a trader attempts to capture very small price movements using very large size within extremely short time frames, often just a few seconds.
• Accounts may be flagged if more than 50% of profits are generated from trades held for 5 seconds or less. If bad faith activity is confirmed following a manual review, a written warning may be issued.
• Genuine scalping is permitted as long as it reflects realistic market activity and order execution.

Hedging

• Hedging refers to the use of multiple accounts to take opposing positions on the same trade. This tactic artificially reduces risk by ensuring one account profits regardless of the market's direction and is a form of system manipulation, not genuine trading.
• Lucid Trading strictly prohibits all forms of hedging, including hedging across multiple accounts held by the same user.
• Lucid Trading Traders also cannot go long/short different contracts in separate accounts with correlated assets — for example, going long ES in one account and short NQ in a separate account is strictly prohibited.

High-Frequency Trading (HFT)

• High-frequency trading is a type of automated trading strategy that involves submitting and executing a high volume of trades within extremely short time frames, often measured in seconds or milliseconds. These strategies are typically powered by algorithms and designed to exploit minute price inefficiencies at speed.
• To maintain a reliable and equitable trading environment, HFT is strictly prohibited.
• Lucid Trading uses automated detection and may remove profits, close accounts, and restrict access for repeated offenses.

Inactivity Rule

• Accounts that have not been traded resulting in at least a net profit or loss of 1$ within 30 calendar days will be deemed abandoned and will be permanently deleted from our systems.

News trading rule

• Allowed for all evaluations and all funded accounts except LucidDaily. For LucidDaily, trading red folder news is a hard breach. You must be flat from 1 minute before through 1 minute after the news event. You may not hold or open new positions through that window.

EA/Bots/Algorithmic Trading

• Ownership: You must be able to prove that you are the sole owner of the bot or strategy, and that no one else has access to or is using it. This ensures that the bot/algorithm is not being shared with other traders or firms.
• We scan to ensure there are no similar orders on other accounts. We will also require a live video of you enabling the code on your own PC.
• Exclusive Use: While you may use the bot on your personal accounts, using it across multiple firms is against Tradeify's policy. The bot should be solely for your own use within Tradeify.
• No High-Frequency Trading (HFT) Bots: Personal bots are allowed as long as they are not high-frequency trading (HFT) bots. Tradeify has specific risk measures in place to detect and monitor such activities.
• Compliance and Verification: Tradeify reserves the right to request information or documentation if our risk measures flag your account for potential violations of these guidelines.

Microscalping (only applicable to the funded stage)

• You must meet BOTH of the below two criteria to pass the microscalping rule:
  • Over 50% of your trades are longer than 10 seconds
  • Over 50% your profit must come from trades held longer than 10 seconds.

Maximum Account Idle Time (Funded Accounts)

• To keep your funded account active, you must place at least one trade per week (Monday through Friday). This is per account, not per user.
• Failure to do so may result in your account being marked as inactive.

Copy Trading

• You may only group trade between accounts you own and manage. Copying other strategies or engaging in copy trading with others is not permitted.
• If you choose to use third-party trade copiers, you do so at your own risk. We are not responsible for any errors they may cause, and support for such issues is beyond our scope.

News Trading, Dollar Cost Averaging, Flipping, and Scaling

• We do not have any rules against or guidelines around trading news events, Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA), flipping, or scaling.

Daily Loss Limit

• NEVER use the Daily Loss Limit as a stop loss — System protection may not be effective during extreme volatility
• Using the DLL as a stop may cause your account to breach the Trailing Max Drawdown due to slippage in volatile markets.

Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA)

• Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA) refers to entering a trade with multiple executions at different price points from the initial entry.
• DCA is allowed, but it should always be part of a structured strategy. It is discouraged to "average into oblivion" involving continuously adding to a losing position without a clear strategy, until the trade reaches breakeven or a slight profit.

Hedging & Trading Micros or Minis Rules

• Minis and micros may now be held at the same time.

• Two things still apply:

  • Your combined position must stay within your account's contract limit, counted at 10 micros = 1 mini.
  • A mini and a micro held in opposing directions on the same or a correlated product is still a hedging violation. Long MES + Short NQ is prohibited — not because of contract size, but because it is a hedge.

• This rule applies across ALL accounts under your control, not just within a single account.

More on hedging rule: https://help.tradeify.co/en/articles/10495868-rules-hedging-correlated-products

Simulated Funded Accounts

• An individual user may have up to 5 Simulated Funded Accounts at any time
• A household is also restricted to 5 Simulated Funded Accounts at any time

Scaling (applicable only to Select Funded Accounts):

• https://help.tradeify.co/en/articles/12853966-select-flex-and-select-daily-payout-policies

Other Trading Rules

• https://help.tradeify.co/en/articles/12268167-essential-trading-rules-overview

Trading Hours

• On regular days, a trading day at Tradeify spans from 6:00 PM ET to 5:00 PM ET the next calendar day. All positions must be closed by 4:45 PM Eastern Time Monday through Friday, before the daily maintenance break. If you have open positions when the market closes, Tradeify will automatically close them for you. This automatic closure will NOT result in account failure or loss of your account. However, you may experience slippage or unfavorable fills.

• 2% Price Limit Rule: This is a restriction that applies when a futures instrument moves within 2% of the CME price limit.

• Auto-close: Positions auto-closed at 3:10 PM CT.

Prohibited Practices:

• Account Sharing: Account sharing occurs when a trader manages multiple accounts or allows another individual to trade on their behalf. This practice is strictly prohibited, as it disrupts fair competition and undermines the integrity of both the Challenge Account and the FundedNext Account.

• Abusing Slow Data Feed: Abusing slow data feed is a practice where traders exploit delayed price updates to execute trades at outdated prices, gaining an unfair advantage over those relying on real-time data. This practice disrupts fair competition and compromises the integrity of the trading environment.

• Account Rolling: Account rolling is a high-risk practice where multiple Challenge accounts are purchased with intention to quick succession of funded phase, with some accounts being intentionally sacrificed while focusing on passing others.

• Exploiting Platform Errors: Exploiting platform errors in Futures Trading refers to taking advantage of system glitches, price discrepancies, or execution delays to secure risk-free profits. This involves manipulating flaws in the trading platform, such as delayed price updates or technical errors, to execute trades at prices that do not reflect real-time market conditions.

• Multi-Order Spam and Coordinated Trading Exploits: Multi-order spam and coordinated trading exploits involve placing and canceling numerous orders in the Depth of Market (DOM) to manipulate market activity or collaborating with others to artificially influence order flow.

• Micro-scalping: Opening and closing trades within 10 seconds to capture rapid, small price movements. The threshold applies to profitable trades only, losing trades are excluded. Measured as the proportion of total recorded profit from trades closed within 10 seconds, evaluated per cycle and per account (a warning or deduction on one account does not carry over to another). At 30%: a compliance warning is issued, no deduction or suspension. At 40% or above (a violation): on a Challenge Account, the ability to reach the profit target and advance is placed on hold, the account stays active and trading continues, and eligibility is restored automatically once the percentage falls back below 40%.

  On a FundedNext Account, the micro-scalping portion of that cycle's profit is deducted in full, the account stays active, and micro-scalping does not result in account termination at any level. If the deduction equals or exceeds the account's net profit for the cycle, no Performance Reward is issued for that cycle and the withdrawal option is disabled.

• Spoofing: Spoofing is a market manipulation technique where a trader places large fake orders (pending orders) to create a false impression of supply or demand, influencing other traders' decisions. These fake orders are canceled before execution, allowing the trader to take advantage of price movements.

• Bracket Strategies: Bracket trading is a strategy where traders set predefined buy & sell (limit/stop orders) to take advantage of any sided market movement, and also set profit-taking and stop-loss levels to manage risk and lock in gains automatically. Exploiting the lack of slippage or using tight brackets to benefit from favorable trade executions is prohibited.

• Order Book Shaping/Layering Strategies: Layering occurs when a trader places multiple buy or sell orders at different price levels to create a false sense of market depth. These orders are not meant to be executed but are intended to mislead other traders into making decisions based on manipulated market conditions.

• Grid Trading: Grid trading in the Futures market involves placing multiple long and short orders at predefined price levels to capitalize on market fluctuations. This strategy aims to capture small price movements within a set range, allowing traders to profit from volatility without relying on market direction. However, due to frequent order placements, grid trading can create excessive market activity and disrupt fair trading conditions.

• Wash Trading: Wash trading in Futures occurs when a trader places bids and asks simultaneously or in quick succession to create artificial market activity without taking on actual market risk. This practice is used to mislead other traders, manipulate prices, or inflate trading volume without genuine market intent.

• Simulated-Execution Exploitation: Simulated-Execution Exploitation is a prohibited trading practice characterized by a sustained pattern of positions exhibiting little to no adverse market movement, indicating that profits were generated primarily through execution advantages within the simulated environment rather than through genuine market risk-taking.

• Tick Scalping: Tick scalping is the repeated practice of opening and closing positions within a very short window to collect a few ticks of profit per trade from favourable simulated fills, often at large or maximum position size.

• Latency Arbitrage: Latency arbitrage is a high-risk trading strategy that exploits price delays between platforms, relying on speed advantages rather than market analysis. This strategy takes advantage of discrepancies in market data updates, allowing traders to enter or exit positions before others react.

• Reverse Hedge: Reverse hedging is a manipulative strategy where a trader opens opposite positions in different accounts to artificially hedge risk, creating an illusion of controlled exposure while exploiting reward structures.

• Hedging with Correlated Instruments: Hedging with correlated instruments involves taking opposite positions in assets that move similarly, reducing actual market exposure while manipulating trading evaluations.

• Gapped or Illiquid Market Trading: Gapped or illiquid market trading involves placing trades during low liquidity periods or exploiting large price gaps to gain an unfair advantage.

• Account Flipping and Inconsistent Contract Execution: Account flipping and inconsistent contract execution involve using high margin to rapidly grow or blow up accounts through reckless, oversized positions.

• Copy Trading and Group Trading: Copy trading refers to replicating trades from another trader or using signal services to execute trades. Group trading occurs when multiple traders collaborate—often in real-time—to achieve specific rewards by executing similar trades simultaneously.

• More Information: https://helpfutures.fundednext.com/en/articles/14298337-what-are-the-prohibited-trading-strategies-of-fundednext-futures

Maximum Performance Reward: Withdrawing 100% causes a Hard Breach due to Maximum Loss Limit reset at the starting balance.

Inactivity Rule:

• Challenge Accounts: Marked as breached and deactivated after 30 consecutive calendar days of no trades.

• FundedNext Accounts: Marked as inactive and deactivated after 30 consecutive calendar days of no trades.

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Live Trading Country Eligibility

• Traders from these countries can purchase accounts, trade, and receive performance rewards from simulated trading. Traders who achieve live eligibility while residing in one of these countries are contacted directly by FundedNext's Risk Desk to review available options.

  Algeria, Angola, Antarctica, Barbados, Benin, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Botswana, Bouvet Island, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada (except Ontario), Christmas Island, Clipperton Island, Cocos Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Croatia, Cyprus (North), Dhekelia, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands, Fiji, French West Indies, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Heard & McDonald Islands, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kosovo, Macedonia, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Micronesia, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Mariana Islands, Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Qatar, Romania, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovenia, South Africa, St Vincent & Grenadines, Suriname, Svalbard & Jan Mayen, Tanzania, Togo, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Western Balkans, Western Sahara, Zambia, Zimbabwe"

News Trading Rules

• My Funded Futures prohibits exploiting news volatility (e.g., straddles, strangles, or disguised news trades) Tier 1 news has stricter rules: Pro Sim Funded, Rapid EOD Sim Funded and Rapid Sim Funded accounts cannot trade during T1 events, no open positions/orders 2 minutes before or after T1 data release. while Builder accounts are unrestricted. Traders may trade through non-T1 news only if following their normal strategy, but MFFU is not liable for broker disruptions during news.

Automated Trading Protocols and EA's

• High-frequency Trading is not allowed.
• Automated strategies are allowed only if they don’t exploit simulator fills, and live-account automation must follow CME guidelines.

Copy trading and trade copiers

• Traders may make use of automated trading strategies tailored to their own specific settings so long as these automated tools do not aim to exploit the favorable fills offered in the Simulated Environment.

• Traders trading live accounts with automated trading MUST abide by CME guidelines.

2% Price Limit Rule

• Trading is not allowed when a product is within 2% of its CME price limit to protect traders from extreme volatility. Applies to Sim and Live Funded accounts.
  See details: https://help.myfundedfutures.com/en/articles/9698984-2-price-limit-rule

Cross Instrument Policy

• Single Instrument Limit: Orders exceeding the allowed contract size for a single instrument (e.g., more than 2 contracts on NQ) will be automatically rejected.
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• Cross Instrument Trading: Orders that combine different instruments (e.g., 2 minis and 20 micros) may technically execute even if they exceed the overall limit (e.g., more than 2 contracts in total), but this is not permitted!
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• Intentional Rule Bypass: Deliberate attempts to circumvent position scaling rules are considered a breach and will be treated accordingly.

Overnight Holding

• Not allowed. Trades will automatically close at 4:10 PM / 16:10 EST - It will not result in a breach of the account

Trading Hours

• 18:00-16:10 EST (Eastern Standard Time / NY Time)
• 06:00 PM - 04:10 PM EST (Eastern Standard Time / NY Time)
• At MyFunded Futures, positions will be closed for you during regular trading days at 4:10 PM EST. So, you need not worry about breaching the rule.
• Note: Make sure that you don’t force a trade multiple times on the market after 4:10 PM EST, as this will sometimes cause the order to go through and disqualify your trading account.

Inactivity Rule

• At least one trade is required in every seven consecutive calendar days on Evaluation and Sim Trading Accounts. Under section 7 of the Terms, MFFU may deem an inactive account dormant, close it and treat the closure as a breach.

More prohibited conduct can be found via this link

• https://help.myfundedfutures.com/en/articles/8444599-fair-play-and-prohibited-trading-practices

Balancing Freedom and Responsibility

• Consistency for Sim-Funded Pro Accounts at My Funded Futures explained: https://help.myfundedfutures.com/en/articles/8694840-balancing-freedom-and-responsibility-consistency-for-sim-funded-expert-and-pro-accounts-at-mffu

Exploiting System, Pricing, or Latency Errors

• Any attempt to take advantage of errors, delays, mispricings, or lags in the broker's feed, the charting platform, or any associated systems will result in immediate account breach
  • This includes latency arbitrage and price manipulation

Use of Insider or Non-Public Information

• Trading based on information not available to the general public, including insider news or confidential financial disclosures, is prohibited

Front-Running

• Placing trades with the intent to benefit from anticipated price movement based on trades executed elsewhere (e.g., in another account or at another firm) is not allowed

Hedging Between Accounts

• You may not hedge one account against another, whether within Top One Futures or across other prop firms or brokers
• All trades must reflect independent trading strategies without cross-account hedging

Unauthorized Account Access

• Only the registered account owner is permitted to trade
• Allowing friends, family, or third parties to access or trade on your account violates this policy

Minimum Trade Duration (10-Second Rule)

• To protect against ultra-high-frequency scalping and promote responsible trading:
  • All trades must remain open longer than 10 seconds
  • 10.00 seconds = violation, 10.01 seconds = acceptable
  • Closing any portion of a trade before 10 seconds violates this rule
  • Adding to a trade (e.g., scaling in) within 10 seconds is permitted
• Occasional minor violations are tolerable, but if:
  • Anywhere close to 50% or more of your total and/or withdrawable profits
  • OR, anywhere close to 50% or more of your individual trades
  • violate this rule, all profits associated with these trades will be removed

Trading That Risks Broker Relationships

• Trading strategies or behaviors that may harm our broker relationships—such as abnormal flow, slippage targeting, or mass quote stuffing—are grounds for account closure

Trading That May Create Regulatory Concerns

• Any activity that could cause regulatory exposure for Top One Futures or our liquidity partners is not tolerated

Externally Marketed Challenge-Passing Strategies

• Using any publicly available or purchased system advertised to help traders "pass challenges" is not allowed
• All strategies must be developed and executed by the trader

Rolling, Churning, or Gambling Accounts

• Creating multiple evaluation accounts in a short period and using a batch-style approach, such as intentionally letting most accounts fail while focusing on passing just one, is strictly prohibited
• Excessive account creation within a short timeframe, especially when done repeatedly, is considered manipulative and will be flagged by our systems
• We do not support gambling behavior
  • This includes consistently breaching accounts within 24–48 hours of purchase and then immediately repurchasing new accounts, indicative of toxic trading strategies
  • Such actions are not indicative of consistency or skill but instead reflect reckless trading strategies intended to exploit asymmetric risk at scale
  • Traders engaging in this type of behavior are not aligned with our long-term vision and may be permanently disqualified
• Examples of disqualifiable churning behavior:
  • Purchasing multiple batch accounts and breaching newly purchased accounts within 1–2 days of trading and repeating the cycle
  • Example Day 1: Trader purchased 9 accounts, all breached within 24 hours
  • Example Day 2: Trader purchased 7 more accounts, again all breached within 24 hours
  • This shows no sustainable risk management or strategy and instead indicates a trial-and-error "gambling" style of trading
  • Attempting to maximize short-term sim funded payout potential through unsustainable trading approaches

Arbitrage with Other Firms

• Attempting to gain an advantage by arbitraging trades across Top One Futures and another firm or platform is prohibited

Automated Trading / Expert Advisors (EAs)

• Use of any automated trading system, script, bot, Expert Advisor (EA), or high-frequency execution tool is strictly forbidden
• All trades must be entered manually or semi-manually by the trader

Copy Trading or Group Trading

• Each trader must operate independently
• The following are not allowed:
  • Executing the same trades as another person or account
  • Coordinated trading with relatives or friends
  • Following signal services, Telegram groups, Discord calls, or any shared trade alert system
• You are not allowed to mix account types in any copy trading setup
  • The leader and follower accounts must be the same type and value
• Note on Copy Trading Between Firms:
  • Traders can use third-party copy trading platforms
  • While Top One Futures does not prohibit copy trading between your own accounts at different firms, all trade decisions must originate from activity on our platform
  • Trades have to begin from your Top One Futures account and reflect your own strategy and discretion

Intentional Account Breaching (Sim Farming)

• Traders may not attempt to deliberately fail or breach funded accounts to avoid transitioning to live trading, remain on simulated accounts, or game system protections

Additional Resources

• All prohibited practices in detail can be found via this link: Prohibited Trading Practices

Overnight Holding

• Overnight trading is NOT allowed
• All positions must be closed by 4:10 PM EST each trading day
• Any open trades after this time may trigger forced liquidation and lead to potential account penalties

News Trading

• INSTANT Sim Funded, Ignite Instant Funding and all evaluations: Allowed without any restrictions
• Elite Access funded accounts and Elite Daily funded accounts: Not allowed 2 minutes before and after high impact news
• You may hold a trade during a news event if:
  • The position was opened before the 2-minute pre-news window
• However:
  • If a trade is closed inside the restricted window → violation
  • If you modify stops or targets inside the window → violation
  • Your trade must not be closed by any means during the restricted news window
• If a funded trader violates the news rule:
  • Profits generated from the violating trade may be removed
  • The payout request may be denied
  • The account may be flagged for review
  • Repeated violations may lead to stricter action
• News violations do not automatically result in a hard breach unless abuse is detected

Auto-close:

• Open positions auto-closed at 4:10 PM EST

Trading Hours

• Hours: 6:00 PM EST and 4:10 PM EST the next day, Monday through Friday
• Daily Break: There is a daily 1-hour break from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM EST, during which trading is paused
• After the break, the next session opens

Inactivity Rule

• All Sim Funded traders must place at least one trade every 14 calendar days to keep their account in good standing

IP Address Restrictions

• IP Address Restrictions Explained

Automated Trading Strategies

• Expert Advisors (EAs) are allowed but require pre-approval.

Copy Trading

• Allowed with Volumetrica Trade Copier, DeepCharts web copier and 3rd party copying softwares

Trading Rules

• No stop-loss requirements.
• News trading is allowed.

Consistency Rule (40%)

• Profits from a single trading day must not exceed 40% of the profit target during the challenge.

Minimum Trading Days

• Traders must complete at least 3 trading days during the evaluation stage.

Inactivity Rules

• During the evaluation phase, traders must place at least 1 trade per week to remain active.

• During evaluation: missing a week deactivates your account. In your Simfunded account: missing a week pauses it — you remain eligible for profits and payouts but need to reactivate.

DCA/Martingale Rule

• Reasonable scaling and averaging are allowed. Repeatedly adding size to losing positions, especially as a routine part of most trades, counts as excessive martingale-style trading and may lead to an account review.

Hedging

• Hedging is not permitted.
• This includes hedging the same instrument across multiple accounts, such as being long NQ in one account and short NQ in another; hedging through correlated instruments, such as being long NQ and short ES; and coordinating with another trader or group of traders to create offsetting positions across separate accounts.
• This rule applies whether the accounts belong to the same trader or to different traders acting together.

Minimum Trading Days

Evaluation (Trading Combine):

• 2 Days (tied to the 55% consistency score)

Express Funded (standard Path):

• 5 winning days of $150+

Express Funded (Consistency Path):

• 3 days with 40% consistency target

News Trading:

• News Trading: Allowed, subject to CPI restrictions. Starting September 11, 2026,
• CPI restriction window (5 min before/after release, ~7:25-7:35 AM CT):
• Minis affected - ES, RTY, YM, NQ, NKD, GC, SI, HG, PL (no new opening transactions)
• Micros affected - MES, M2K, MYM, MNQ, MGC, SIL, MHG (opening transactions limited by account size tier)

Copy Trading:

• Trade copying can only be applied to accounts within the same trading environment. you can copy trades from a trading combine to an Express Funded Account, and from an Express from a trading combine to an Express Funded Account, and from an Express Funded Account to a Trading combine. Live Funded Accounts cannot utilize the Trade Copier.
• Cross-account hedging is prohibited at Topstep.

Automated strategies and EA's:

• Automated strategies (EAs) are allowed, but traders are fully responsible for their setup and performance. Bots must comply with all trading rules no manipulative or unfair software and TopstepX only supports automation via API access.‍

‍On Express Funded account‍

• ‍After payout the capital remaining in your account will be the maximum amount you will be able to lose. Your maximum loss limit will always be set to $0 after your payout.

Inactivity:

• Express Funded Account must have at least one trade every 30 days to remain open.

Prohibited Trading Strategies:

• Account Stacking
• Intentional Account Depletion
• Terms Violation
• Use of Manipulative Tools (AI or Automation)
• Abnormal Market Behavior
• Trading Outside Market Range
• News Event Exploitation
• More Prohibited trading conduct can be found via this link

VPN Rule:

• The use of VPNs, Proxy Services, TOR, geo-location obfuscation, and other potential identity masking services are not permitted

Trading Combine/Reset Purchase Limits

No limit on Trading Combine purchases

• Traders are allowed 2 Resets per account per calendar day.
• The Do's and Don'ts of SIM Fills
• Topstep prohibits any attempts to exploit or manipulate the simulated environment, and may reject profits if abuse is detected.
• Practices like scalping algorithms, rapid-fire trades, impossible fills, or unrealistic stop-loss execution are not allowed.
• The rule targets intentional abusive behavior, not normal trading and exists to ensure traders focus on real, consistent skill development.
• see details

2% Price Limit Rule:

• Topstep do not allow market participation when a product is trading within 2% of a Price Limit. Applies to all levels of Topstep's program.

XFA Size and Payout Path Lock:

• Your Express Funded Account size matches the Trading Combine you passed and is locked both before and after activation. At XFA activation you choose your Payout path, Standard or Consistency, and once selected that choice cannot be changed.

EOD (Standard & No Activation) - Trading Rules

Daily Loss Limit (DLL)

• Evaluation: A fixed Daily Loss Limit applies during each trading session. If the DLL is hit, trading is paused for the remainder of that session. The account remains active and resets at the next session open. Touching the EOD drawdown threshold — not the DLL — is what fails or closes the account.
• Daily Loss in the Performance Account is Tier Based.

EOD Drawdown Enforcement

• The drawdown threshold is recalculated once per day at 4:59:59 PM ET using the closing balance. That threshold is then enforced in real time during the following trading session. The threshold trails upward with new highs and never moves down.

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Intraday (Standard & No Activation) — Trading Rules

No Daily Loss Limit (DLL) in Evaluation

• There is no Daily Loss Limit during the Intraday evaluation phase. Risk is controlled entirely by the intraday trailing threshold. In the Performance Account, a tier-based DLL is enforced intraday.

Intraday Trailing Drawdown Enforcement

• The drawdown threshold trails in real time with the peak balance, including unrealized profit. It never moves down. If the threshold is touched at any point during the session — including on open unrealized losses — positions liquidate and the evaluation fails or the PA closes immediately.

When EOD & Intraday Drawdown Stops Trailing

• Performance Accounts (PA): The Threshold stops trailing once it reaches Starting Balance + $100, and remains fixed from that point onward.
• Evaluations on Rithmic & WealthCharts: The Threshold stops trailing once it reaches an amount equal to the Target Profit balance, and remains fixed from that point onward.
• Evaluations on Tradovate: The Threshold trails indefinitely with the peak account balance / EOD account balance.

Legacy Products

• Legacy 30% Negative P&L Rule (MAE): The 30% Negative Profit and Loss (P&L) Rule limits the loss a trader can incur on any open trade or trades, providing a structured approach to risk management. Under this rule, the live, unrealized, open negative P&L cannot exceed 30% of the account’s profit balance at the start of the day.

• **Legacy 5:1 Risk-Reward Ratio Rule:**The 5:1 Risk-Reward Ratio Rule is a risk management guideline that ensures your trades are balanced with a responsible amount of risk relative to the potential profit. For every trade you make, your stop loss should not exceed five times the amount of your profit target.

• One Direction Rule (Directionally Biased Trading): Traders are only allowed to hold a position in one direction at any time—either long (buy) or short (sell). Traders are also prohibited from using a non-directionally biased strategy where they have open orders for both sides of the market

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General Rules

Inactivity Rule

• Evaluation: None
• Sim Funded
  • Traders must record at least 2 trading days with $50+ new profit within every rolling 30-day period to keep the account active.
  • After 15 days of inactivity the account enters a dormant phase and if 30 consecutive days pass without meeting the threshold, the account is permanently closed with all rewards and payouts eligibility forfeited - no reinstatement.

News Trading

• Trading during news is allowed for your normal trading strategy. Using “news trading” strategies that “chase the market” or place orders on both sides but to be lucky or gamble the outcome of news is not allowed.

Expert Advisors

• All trading must be manually initiated — EAs, bots, scripts, macros, or any system that automates order placement, modification, or cancellation are strictly prohibited. Permitted tools are limited to signal/alert generators, platform-native order types (stop-loss, take-profit) set manually at entry, and charting/analysis software that does not interact with order submission.

Copy Trading

• Copy trading is allowed on both Evaluation and Performance Accounts, provided all accounts are under the same Apex user ID and email. Using separate accounts under different emails is not permitted. Third-party copier software is used at the trader's own risk — Apex is not responsible for malfunctions affecting profits, losses, or account liquidation.

No Hedging

• Holding both long and short positions simultaneously on the same or correlated instrument is strictly prohibited.

Contract Scaling Rules

• Traders are subject to tier-based scaling in the Performance Account. Maximum contracts during evaluation are fixed at 4 ($25K), 6 ($50K), 8 ($100K), or 12 ($150K), with tier-based scaling applied in the PA.

Trading With Risk Management

• All trades must have either pending or mental stop losses and a well-defined risk management strategy. Trading without these measures is strictly prohibited.

Using the Trailing Threshold as a Stop Loss

• Traders are prohibited from using the account's full Drawdown threshold as a stop-loss mechanism to absorb large losses, leading to account liquidation.

Evaluation Period

• The evaluation period is 30 calendar days with no extensions. There is no minimum trading days required. Traders may pass in a single day if the profit target is reached without breaching the drawdown rules. After passing, traders have 7 calendar days to activate their Performance Account.

Trading Hours Explained

• https://apextraderfunding.com/help-center/getting-started/futures-trading-times/

Prohibited Activities

• Account Sharing / Credential Sharing
• Third-Party Payments and Payouts
• Bad-Faith Chargebacks and Refund Disputes
• False or Misleading Information / Identity Misrepresentation
• Use of VPNs, Proxies, or Anonymizing Tools (to evade rules, hide violations, or facilitate misconduct)
• System or Documentation Manipulation / Staff Impersonation
• Abusive Use of Company Services / Gaming the Program
• Trading Without Stop Losses or Risk Management
• High-Risk Strategies (disproportionate risk-to-reward, e.g., 5-tick target / 150-tick stop)
• Using the Trailing Threshold as a Stop Loss
• Stockpiling Evaluation Accounts (buying multiple discounted accounts to intentionally blow up)
• Unsustainable Strategies
• Deviating from Professional Standards (strategies a trader wouldn't use on a personally funded broker account)
• Manipulation of the Simulated Trading Environment (includes HFT, erroneous-fill exploitation, non-directional bracket trading)
• Unauthorized Users (anyone other than the registered owner accessing the account)
• Account and Resource Sharing (MAC addresses, computers, IPs, credit cards, trade copying)
• Multiple Account Creation (including household/associated-party accounts to circumvent restrictions)
• Holding Positions Through Market Close
• Automation or Algorithm Usage
• News Trading Abuse (chasing the market or two-sided gambling on news; normal strategy news trades are allowed)
• Hedging (simultaneous long and short on same or correlated instruments)
• See details: https://apextraderfunding.com/help-center/getting-started/prohibited-activities/

Consequences for Rule Violations:

• Violations may lead to placement in Trader Probation, account closure, forfeiture of funds, and potential additional verification or audits.

Apex Code of Conducts Explained

• https://apextraderfunding.com/help-center/getting-started/code-of-conduct/

Minimum Trading Days

• Prime - Evaluation: 1 day to Pass | Sim Funded: 3 wining days of $200 or more each day
• Premier Plus(EOD & Intraday) - Evaluation: 1 day to Pass (FastPass) or 2 days to Pass (Standard) | Sim Funded: 5 winning days of $200 or more each day
• Velocity - Evaluation: 3 days to pass | Sim Funded:3 winning days of $200 or more each day. - Removed with Daily Payout Add-on
• S2F: 7 wining days of $200 or more each day

Trading Day Definition

• A “Trading Day” is defined as at least one trade placed between 6:00 PM EST/EDT and 5:00 PM EST/EDT the following day.

News Trading

• Allowed to trade through all news events across all account types, including Tier 1 events, as long as proper risk management is maintained

Expert Advisor

• EAs and automated/algorithmic trading are not permitted — all trading must be manual and human-driven.

Copy Trading

• You are welcome to use any copy trading tool of your choice. However, please note that Funded Futures Family is not liable for any losses incurred due to a malfunction of the tool.

Trading Hours

• Trading is allowed anytime markets are open except between 4:15 PM – 6:00 PM EST; all trades are auto-closed at 4:15 PM EST if not manually closed.

Microscalping Policy

• Micro-scalping is permitted at Funded Futures Family on both Evaluation and Funded accounts. Over 50% of your trades and over 50% of your total profits must come from positions held longer than 10 seconds.

Inactivity Rule

• At least one trade per week (Monday–Friday), held for a minimum of 10 seconds, is required per account. Accounts idle for one whole trading week or longer are automatically closed and cannot be restored.

CME 2% Price Limit Rule

• Trading is prohibited when a product is within 2% of its CME price limit on Sim Funded and Live Funded accounts. Failing to close a trade during a price limit extension results in account ineligibility. Traders are responsible for monitoring the % Net Change on their platform to avoid breaching this rule.

Prohibited Practices

• Martingale
• Automated Trading / EAs / Bots
• IP Manipulation
• Shared Account Access
• Multi-User Control
• Exceeding Maximum Accounts Per Household/IP Group
• Exploiting system discrepancies, delays, or technical issues, as well as using manipulative strategies like hedging to artificially game the system
• See details: https://intercom.help/funded-futures-family/en/articles/15892413-bots-algorithmic-trading-policy

Funded Account Activation

• Prime, Premier+, and Velocity: Activate the Funded Account within 7 days after passing the Evaluation Account. If not activated within this timeframe, the account will be closed.

Prestige

• Strictly invite-only; traders cannot apply for or request access. Passing transitions the trader to FFF Pro with no Sim-funded payouts. Prestige is the only re-entry path after exiting or failing the Professional or Live Stage.

Base

• Evaluation: 4 days to Pass | Sim Funded: No qualifying trading days required

Trading Without Stops:

• Trading without stop-loss strategies and relying on the Trailing Threshold to close a trade as a means of "blowing the account" is not allowed.

Automated Tools:

• AI, bots, and other fully automated trading mechanisms are strictly prohibited across all account types.

All-in Trading:

• Using maximum contract sizes to chase a "big win" early in the Funded Account evaluation process, with the hope of overcoming the trailing drawdown, then downsizing later is prohibited.

Price Limit Trading:

• Traders are prohibited from trading any product within 2% of a CME price limit

News Trading:

• News trading is allowed

Inactivity Rule:

Evaluation Accounts:

• At least one trade is required every 30 calendar days.

Funded Accounts:

• At least one trade is required every 7 calendar days.

Risk to Reward Ratio's:

• Traders are to adhere to a maximum risk-to-reward ratio of 5:1.

Order Placement:

• Placing multiple limit orders at the same price to manipulate order fills is strictly prohibited.

Trading Hours:

• 8:00-16:10 EST (Eastern Standard Time / NY Time) OR 06:00 PM - 04:10 PM EST (Eastern Standard Time / NY Time)
• Trades will automatically close at 4:10 PM / 16:10 - And it will not result in a breach of the account

Copy Trading:

• Copy trading is allowed at Blue Guardian Futures, including the use of third-party copier software, provided all copied trades are between accounts legally owned by the same trader. This includes copying between your own Blue Guardian accounts Futures and your own external accounts.
• Copying trades from other traders, signal providers, trade groups, or allowing third parties to manage or execute trades on your behalf is strictly prohibited and may result in account review or termination.

Microscalping:

• To promote consistent trading practices, less than 50% of your total profits may come from trades held for under 10 seconds. This rule applies during both the Evaluation and Funded phases.
• Read more about the prohibited practices here