General Trading Rules

The rulebook, in plain language.

These apply across both evaluation and funded accounts unless a specific program page states otherwise. Read them once, trade with confidence after.

Drawdown

Maximum daily drawdown

Account equity may not fall more than the stated daily limit below the higher of the previous day's closing balance or equity, measured at 5PM EST. Breaching this limit closes the account immediately.

Drawdown

Maximum overall drawdown

Account equity may never fall more than the stated overall limit below the reference point for that program — either the starting balance (static) or your highest recorded balance (trailing). See Program Rules & Drawdown for the exact mechanics.

Floating Loss

Maximum floating loss across open trades

The combined unrealized (floating) loss across all of your open positions may never exceed 1% of the account's initial balance at any point. This is separate from your daily and overall drawdown — it's checked continuously across your whole open book, not just at day-close, and not on a single-trade basis.

Targets

Profit target

Evaluation phases require reaching a stated percentage gain on the starting balance. There is no time limit to reach the target on standard programs.

Consistency

Consistency rule

On programs where it applies, no single trading day may account for more than the stated share of your total profit at the point you request evaluation completion or a reward. See the worked examples on Program Rules & Drawdown.

Prohibited

What isn't allowed

Latency exploitation, exploiting quote or feed errors, and coordinating trades across multiple accounts to create a risk-free hedge are the only trading behaviors we treat as violations outright, regardless of drawdown compliance.

Scaling

Account scaling

Funded accounts that stay profitable and within limits across consecutive reward cycles are reviewed for scaling, up to the maximum allocation stated for that program.

Trade With Freedom

What's genuinely allowed.

None of the following will ever come back to bite you at reward time. If it's listed here, it's genuinely allowed — not a grey area.

Allowed

No blanket "risky trading" rule

We don't maintain a vague ban on "gambling" or "toxic" trading, because that label means something different to every trader and is nearly impossible to apply fairly.

Why this is allowed

A rule nobody can define in advance isn't a rule you can trade around with confidence. Instead, the drawdown limits themselves are the safeguard — trade too recklessly and the structure catches it before we'd ever need to make a judgment call.

Allowed

No fixed lot-size rule

Any position size your available margin and leverage support is valid. You can size up or down between trades without it being flagged as inconsistent.

Why this is allowed

Conviction changes trade to trade. Forcing identical position sizes ignores how discretionary trading actually works — if the trade fits inside your margin, it's a valid trade.

Allowed

Martingale & layering permitted

Adding to a losing position, or building a position through several smaller entries at different levels, is allowed on a single account.

Why this is allowed

The drawdown limit already defines how much risk you're permitted to take. How you arrange your entries within that limit is your call — as long as it stays on one account. Running the same approach across multiple accounts to manufacture a risk-free hedge is treated as abuse.

Allowed

No news blackout windows

There's no restricted window around economic releases. Profit earned from a position opened or closed during high-impact news is fully counted toward your target and any reward.

Why this is allowed

Your daily and overall drawdown limits already absorb the extra volatility news events bring. Manage your risk inside those limits and trade the calendar however you like.

Allowed

No separate margin-usage cap

We don't apply an additional rule capping the percentage of margin you use across open positions.

Why this is allowed

Leverage is fixed and known in advance. If your leverage and balance allow a trade at a given size, that trade will never be treated as a surprise violation later.

Allowed

No restriction on same-direction adds

Adding another position in the same direction on the same symbol — whether the existing position is in profit or in loss — is allowed, with no mandatory cooldown between entries.

Why this is allowed

Directional conviction is part of trading. As long as your overall risk stays within the drawdown limit for the account, how you build into a view is up to you.

More Rules & FAQ

Related pages.