Prop Firm Rules

To maintain a fair and secure trading environment, GOAT Funded Trader applies a set of rules designed to assess disciplined, independent, and risk-managed trading. Violations may result in profit deductions, payout restrictions, account breach, loss of simulated funded account access, or permanent suspension depending on the severity of the case.

1. Prohibited Trading Practices

GOAT Funded Trader restricts trading behaviour that abuses platform conditions, broker execution, or the simulated trading environment instead of demonstrating genuine trading skill:

• Exploitative strategies: Traders may not exploit pricing errors, platform latency, broker inefficiencies, non-public information, or any technical weakness that creates an unfair advantage.
• All-or-nothing trading: Excessively risky trading that can effectively risk the account in a single trade may be considered gambling-style behaviour and can lead to account action.
• Martingale and recovery systems: Strategies that increase lot size or trade volume after losses in order to recover drawdown are not allowed.
• Simulated environment abuse: Repeated high-volume trading without a clear and logical strategy may be flagged for review, limited, suspended, or terminated.
• Third-party challenge passing: Using account-passing services, off-the-shelf strategies, shared EAs, or systems marketed specifically to pass prop firm assessments may lead to breach or reward forfeiture.

2. News Trading & Expert Advisors (EAs)

GOAT Funded Trader allows certain flexible trading methods, but they must still follow the firm’s risk and fairness rules:

• News trading: Trading during high-impact news is allowed, but trades opened or closed within 5 minutes before or after a red-folder news event are capped at 1% profit of the account’s initial balance.
• Excess news profit: Any profit above the 1% limit may be removed during review, but this adjustment does not automatically count as an account breach.
• Use of EAs / automation: Expert Advisors are allowed if they comply with GOAT’s prohibited trading rules.
• Restricted automation: High-frequency trading systems and Gold Arbitrage EAs are not allowed.

3. Hedging, Copying & Account Ownership

GOAT Funded Trader expects each trader to operate independently and not use accounts to offset or duplicate risk:

• Hedging: Hedging is prohibited within the same account, across multiple accounts owned by the same trader, across accounts owned by different traders, or between a GOAT account and another prop firm account.
• Opposite positions: Hedging includes opening opposing positions on the same asset, regardless of lot size or calculated risk.
• Trade duplication: Copying trades or trade ideas between funded and evaluation accounts, or between multiple evaluation accounts, is not permitted.
• Account access: Only the registered account owner is allowed to trade the account. Sharing access or using third-party account management services may lead to breach.

4. Risk Controls & Trading Behaviour

• Stop loss and take profit: Stop losses and take profits are encouraged but not mandatory. Traders are still expected to manage risk responsibly.
• Risk limitation policy: If GOAT considers a trader’s activity too risky, specific risk limits may be applied to the account. Ignoring those limits after being notified may result in a breach.
• Goat Guard: GOAT Guard may automatically close open positions on eligible funded accounts if floating losses reach a defined risk threshold. Repeated triggers can reduce payout conditions or lead to account breach.

5. Trading Days, Weekend Holding & Short Trades

• Minimum trading days: Trading day requirements vary by model, and some programs require valid profitable trading days before progression or reward eligibility.
• Weekend holding: Holding trades over the weekend is generally allowed, but intentionally targeting weekend gaps may lead to profit removal after review.
• Trades under 2 minutes: On funded accounts, profits from trades held for less than 2 minutes may be excluded from payout eligibility, while losses remain counted.

6. Breaches & Enforcement

• Manual and automated reviews: Accounts may be reviewed for prohibited trading, excessive risk, coordination, copy trading, or abuse of the simulated environment.
• Profit removal: Certain rule events, such as excess news profit, weekend-gap profit, or short-duration trade profit, may result in profit deductions without necessarily breaching the account.
• Account breach: Serious violations such as hedging, martingale, third-party challenge passing, duplicate accounts, or prohibited automation may lead to account termination and loss of reward eligibility.
• Permanent suspension: Severe or repeated violations may result in the trader being banned from GOAT Funded Trader’s platform.

For the complete and most up-to-date details, see GOAT Funded Trader’s official Rules FAQ / Knowledgebase.

To maintain a fair and secure trading environment, BrightFunded has established specific rules and guidelines, including certain prohibited practices. Below is an overview of the most pertinent information:

1. Prohibited Trading Practices

To ensure market integrity, BrightFunded prohibits the following behaviors:

• Exploiting Service Errors: Taking advantage of service errors, such as delays in price display or updates, is strictly prohibited.
• Use of Unauthorized Software: Employing software, artificial intelligence, ultra-high-speed trading, or mass data entry methods that could abuse the system or provide an unfair advantage is not allowed.
• Prohibited Hedging Practices: Hedging the same financial instrument across different trading accounts is strictly prohibited. If detected, a first-time violation will result in a soft breach, including a warning and closure of all trades. A second violation will lead to permanent account closure. Hedging within the same account is permitted.
• Unauthorized Copy Trading: Copy trading is allowed only between accounts owned by the same individual. Copying trades between accounts not owned by the same person, including those of relatives or friends, is strictly prohibited. Violations can lead to profit deductions, account resets, or account closure.

2. News Trading Policy

BrightFunded's guidelines for trading around news events are as follows:

• Phase 1 and Phase 2: Traders can trade around news events freely, with no restrictions.
• Funded Star Account: Trading within a 10-minute window surrounding significant news releases—defined as 5 minutes before and 5 minutes after the event—is prohibited. Violations will result in a deduction of the profit made on that particular trade. Executed trades during this period that lead to a loss won't be compensated. This is considered a soft breach and will not result in account termination.

3. Risk Management Guidelines

BrightFunded advises traders to adhere to prudent risk management practices:

• Negative Available Margin: If your available margin falls below zero, resulting in a negative available margin, this will constitute a soft breach of your account.

Adhering to these rules and guidelines is essential for maintaining your account's standing with BrightFunded. Engaging in prohibited practices can lead to actions ranging from warnings to the termination of the account and cessation of cooperation. For the most detailed and up-to-date information, please refer to BrightFunded's official Terms & Conditions and Help Center.

To maintain a fair and secure trading environment, E8 Markets has established specific rules and guidelines, including certain prohibited practices. Below is an overview of the most pertinent information:

1. Prohibited Trading Practices

To ensure market integrity, E8 Markets prohibits the following behaviors:

• All-or-Nothing Trading: Risking your entire account balance on a single trade is not permitted. Such excessively risky trading styles violate E8 Markets' terms and will result in account termination with a full refund.
• Hedging Across Multiple Accounts: Hedging across multiple accounts, even those belonging to the same trader, is strictly prohibited. This involves opening opposing positions on the same asset, which undermines fair trading and disrupts the integrity of the platform.
• Use of Expert Advisors (EAs): While the use of EAs is permitted, each user is limited to one strategy. If multiple users are found executing the same trades or strategy, it may lead to account termination. Additionally, there is a server request limitation of 2,000 modifications (such as TP/SL adjustments) and a maximum position limit of 2,000 per day.
• Irresponsible Trading in Simulated Accounts: Executing large-volume trades without a coherent strategy or disregarding fundamental market analysis and risk management practices is considered an abuse of the simulated environment and will be penalized.
• High-Frequency Trading (HFT) Restrictions: To prevent HFT behaviors, traders cannot hold more than 50% of their trades for under one minute.

2. News Trading Policy

During the evaluation phases (Phases 1, 2, and 3), traders are free to simulate trades on any news events. However, due to the simulated platform tracking real-world markets, traders must be aware of the risks associated with slippage. In the E8 Trader account, trading based on news is not permitted.

3. Consistency Rules

E8 Markets requires traders to demonstrate consistent trading practices. If a trader's approach shows signs of extreme behavior, their trading may be subject to review by the risk team, who may require consistency over a longer period. Failure to demonstrate a consistent and sustainable trading strategy may result in restrictions on trading activities, termination of the agreement, or withholding of payouts.

4. Recommended Risk Management

E8 Markets advises traders to adhere to prudent risk management practices. If prohibited practices are detected, the company reserves the right to de-risk the trading strategy by limiting risk to no more than 1% per trade idea or time horizon.

Adhering to these rules and guidelines is essential for maintaining your account's standing with E8 Markets. Engaging in prohibited practices can lead to actions ranging from warnings to the termination of the account and cessation of cooperation. For the most detailed and up-to-date information, please refer to E8 Markets' official Terms & Conditions and their official FAQ section.

To maintain a fair and secure trading environment, Funded Trader Markets applies a set of rules designed to assess disciplined, independent, and risk-managed trading. Violations may result in profit deductions, reward rejection, upgrade denial, account termination, or loss of access depending on the severity of the case.

1. Prohibited Trading Practices

Funded Trader Markets restricts trading behaviour that abuses platform conditions, account structure, or the simulated trading environment instead of demonstrating genuine trading skill:

• High-frequency trading: Trading large volumes of positions at very high speeds is prohibited.
• News scalping: Rapidly opening and closing multiple positions within seconds around high-impact news events is not allowed.
• Arbitrage trading: Reverse arbitrage, latency arbitrage, and other forms of arbitrage trading are strictly prohibited.
• Tick scalping: Opening and closing large position sizes in milliseconds is prohibited because this type of activity cannot be mirrored in live market conditions.
• Group trading: Copying trades from others, coordinating trades, reverse trading with others, or using shared devices across multiple users may result in account termination or reward forfeiture.
• Account management services: Buying or providing account management services, account passing services, or allowing someone else to trade on your behalf is not allowed.

2. News Trading & Trading Bots

Funded Trader Markets allows flexible trading methods, but they must still follow the firm’s fairness and risk rules:

• News trading: Trading during news is allowed across all programs, but traders are expected to manage the higher volatility, spreads, slippage, and execution risk around major events.
• News scalping restriction: Opening and closing multiple positions within seconds around major news events such as FOMC, NFP, or CPI is not allowed.
• Trading bots: Automated trading may be allowed if the strategy is original to the trader and does not violate FTM’s prohibited trading rules.
• Shared bots: Using the same trading bot as another trader at Funded Trader Markets is not allowed.

3. Hedging, Copying & Account Ownership

Funded Trader Markets allows some account flexibility, but traders must operate independently and avoid coordinated or abusive account behaviour:

• Hedging within one account: Hedging is allowed when it is done inside the same account.
• Opposite account hedging: Opening opposing positions across separate accounts is prohibited.
• Overnight hedging: Holding hedged positions overnight is not allowed on Instant Funded Accounts or Evaluation Simulated Funded Accounts.
• Trade copiers: Trade copiers are allowed only when copying the trader’s own trades.
• Copying restrictions: Copying trades from other traders, trade signals, or external groups is not permitted.
• Evaluation to funded copying: Copying trades from an Evaluation account to a Simulated Funded account is strictly prohibited.
• Account access: Only the registered trader may trade the account. Sharing account access or using third-party account management services may lead to termination.

4. Risk Controls & Trading Behaviour

• Consistency rule: Traders must follow the relevant consistency rule for their account type, meaning profits should be generated in a stable and sustainable way rather than relying on one oversized trading day.
• Martingale and layering: Martingale and layering are allowed within a single account, but they must not be used across multiple accounts to manipulate risk or abuse strategy rules.
• Sequential trading: Opening the same pair across multiple accounts outside the permitted timing conditions may make profits from the involved accounts ineligible for performance reward.
• Lot size limits: Traders must follow any lot size limits that apply to their specific account type or program.
• Risk review: Funded Trader Markets may review trading activity and apply action if the behaviour is considered abusive, coordinated, or too risky for its risk management standards.

5. Trading Days, Weekend Holding & Short Trades

• Minimum trading days: Trading day requirements may vary depending on the selected program and account type.
• Overnight and weekend holding: Holding trades overnight and through the weekend is allowed across available programs.
• Partial closes: Partial closes are allowed, but they must not be used only to manipulate the consistency score.
• Partial close overnight rule: If a trader partially closes a position, the remaining volume must be fully closed within the same trading day. Carrying the reduced position into the next trading day may lead to profit deductions.
• Minimum holding time: In the simulated funded phase, profits from trades closed within 1 minute of opening are voided and do not count toward the performance reward.
• Challenge phase short trades: If more than 20% of challenge phase profit comes from trades held under 1 minute, the trader may be required to redo the challenge.

6. IP, KYC & Access Rules

• IP matching: A trader’s trading IP must not match or overlap with another user’s trading IP, dashboard IP, or KYC IP.
• Purchase and KYC location: The country of the IP used during purchase must match the country used for KYC verification.
• VPN/VPS restrictions: Purchases or KYC submissions through VPNs or VPS services are not allowed.
• Trading VPN use: VPN use on the trading platform may be allowed if the IP does not originate from a restricted country.
• Dashboard access: Accessing the dashboard through VPN or VPS is not allowed.
• Household rule: Multiple traders in the same household must be declared to the verification team before trading.

7. Breaches & Enforcement

• Manual and automated reviews: Accounts may be reviewed for prohibited trading, copy trading, group trading, hedging abuse, suspicious IP activity, or simulated environment abuse.
• Profit removal: Certain rule violations, such as short-duration trades or partial close violations, may result in profit deductions without necessarily breaching the account.
• Upgrade denial: Violations during the challenge phase may lead to upgrade denial.
• Reward rejection: Violations on simulated funded or instant funded accounts may result in total reward rejection.
• Account termination: Serious violations such as group trading, account sharing, prohibited copying, arbitrage, HFT, or opposite account hedging may result in account termination.

For the complete and most up-to-date details, see Funded Trader Markets’ official FAQ / Knowledgebase.

To maintain a fair and secure trading environment, FundingPips has established specific rules and guidelines, including certain prohibited practices. Below is an overview of the most pertinent information:

1. Prohibited Trading Practices

FundingPips explicitly prohibits certain trading behaviors to ensure market integrity:

• Excessive Risk-Taking: Engaging in high-risk strategies that resemble gambling or one-sided betting is not allowed.
• Toxic Trading Flow: Practices that disrupt market stability or exploit system vulnerabilities are forbidden.

2. Risk Management Guidelines

To promote responsible trading, FundingPips enforces the following risk management rules:

• Maximum Loss Limit: A trader's largest single loss should not exceed 3% of the master account size.
• Short-Term Trade Profits: Profits from trades closed within one minute of opening will not be counted towards the master account.

3. Elite Level Advancement

FundingPips offers a progression system for consistent traders:

• "Hot-Seat" Elite Level: After receiving 16 payouts with a top profit split of 40%, traders can unlock the "Hot-Seat" level, which includes additional benefits.

Adhering to these rules and guidelines is essential for maintaining your account's standing with FundingPips. Engaging in prohibited practices can lead to actions ranging from the removal of conflicting positions to the termination of the account and cessation of cooperation. For the most detailed and up-to-date information, please refer to FundingPips' official Help Center.

To maintain a fair and secure trading environment,FTMO has established specific rules and guidelines, including certain prohibited practices. Below is an overview of the most pertinent information:

1. Trading Instruments and Strategies

Traders are permitted to use various trading strategies, provided they align with legitimate trading practices and do not exploit system errors or delays. It's essential to avoid strategies that could harm FTMO’s services or misuse the Evaluation Process and/or FTMO Account. For detailed information on acceptable instruments and strategies, please refer to FTMO’s guidelines.

2. Forbidden Trading Practices

FTMO explicitly prohibits certain trading behaviors to ensure market integrity:

• Exploiting System Vulnerabilities: Utilizing strategies that take advantage of errors in price displays, delayed updates, or slow data feeds is forbidden.
• Manipulative Trading: Engaging in trades, alone or in coordination with others, that manipulate the market—such as simultaneously entering opposite positions across multiple accounts—is not allowed.
• Automated Exploitation: Using software, artificial intelligence, or high-speed data entry methods to manipulate or gain an unfair advantage on the trading platform is prohibited.
• Non-Replicable Strategies: Implementing strategies that are not reasonably replicable in actual market conditions, such as opening substantially larger positions compared to usual trades, is not permitted.
• Gap Trading: Engaging in gap trading, especially around major global news or macroeconomic events, is considered a high-risk practice and is forbidden.

For a comprehensive list of prohibited practices, please review FTMO’s Terms & Conditions, specifically Clause 5.4.

3. Trading According to a Real Market

FTMO requires that all trading activities reflect genuine market conditions. Traders must not use practices that contradict the functioning of a real market. This ensures that trading strategies are legitimate and do not interfere with standard market operations.

4. Consistency in Trading

Consistency is crucial for long-term success. FTMO evaluates traders based on their ability to maintain consistent trading behaviors and results. While the Consistency Score is currently informative and does not affect the outcome of the Evaluation Process, it highlights the importance of disciplined and steady trading practices.

5. News Trading and Holding Positions

FTMO has specific guidelines regarding trading during news events and holding positions overnight or over weekends:

• FTMO Account: Traders are restricted from trading during certain news releases and from holding trades over weekends. For example, during significant USD news announcements, trading USD-related forex pairs and indices is restricted from 2 minutes before to 2 minutes after the event.
• FTMO Account Swing: This account type does not have restrictions for news trading or holding trades over the weekend, making it suitable for swing traders who need to hold positions for extended periods.

6. Maximum Allocation

FTMO has a maximum capital allocation limit when you are an FTMO Trader, which is $400,000 (prior to scaling) per trader or strategy, at any given time.

Equivalent limits are in place for other currencies – €320,000; £280,000; CAD 480,000; AUD 520,000; CHF 320,000 or CZK 8,000,000.

These limits are in place due to risk mitigation & diversification measures.

Please be careful not to get multiple accounts through various registrations as this is not permitted. If FTMO discovers identically traded strategies through various accounts, and exceeding the total of fictitious $400,000 in active FTMO Accounts, they reserve the right to suspend those accounts as per the contract.

Adhering to these rules and guidelines is essential for maintaining your account's standing with FTMO. Engaging in prohibited practices can lead to actions ranging from the removal of conflicting positions to the termination of the account and cessation of cooperation. For the most detailed and up-to-date information, please refer to FTMO’s official FAQ and Terms & Conditions.

To maintain a fair and secure trading environment, Exclusive Funded has established specific rules and guidelines. Below is an overview of the most pertinent information:

1. Prohibited Trading Strategies

Exclusive Markets strictly forbids trading practices that exploit the simulated trading environment or deviate from real-market conditions. Such prohibited strategies include:

• High-Frequency Trading (HFT): Utilizing algorithms or automated systems to execute numerous trades rapidly, potentially leading to market manipulation.
• Latency Arbitrage: Exploiting time delays between trading venues to gain unfair advantages.
• Abuse of Delayed Data Feeds or Simulated Environment: Utilizing delayed data or executing large-volume trades without a logical strategy to gain unfair advantages.
• Martingale Trading: Increasing investment size after each simulated loss to recover previous losses, posing significant risks.

Engaging in these strategies may result in trade reversals, account restrictions, or termination.

2. News Trading Policy

Trading on challenge accounts during high-impact news is permitted. Clients are restricted from opening and closing any trade 4 minutes before and 4 minutes after the news only on Funded Accounts. This includes both Market Execution and opening/closing Pending Orders (including take profit and stop loss).

3. Gambling & Reckless Trading Behavior

Exclusive Markets prohibits trading behaviors that resemble gambling or reckless betting, including:

• Punting: Placing a small number of large, high-risk trades without a structured strategy.
• Overleveraging: Using excessive margin on a single trade, risking significant losses from minor market movements.
• Overexposure: Taking large positions in highly correlated assets, falsely assuming diversification.
• All-In Strategies: Risking a large percentage of the account balance on one trade without proper risk management.
• Doubling Down (Martingale): Increasing trade sizes after losses to recover quickly, increasing risk exposure.
• Excessive High-Frequency Scalping: Opening and closing trades within seconds without a sustainable long-term strategy.

Traders engaging in these practices may face warnings, trade restrictions, resets, or account termination.

4. Consequences of Rule Violations

Violations of Exclusive Markets' trading rules can lead to account breaches, resulting in the inability to continue trading on the account.

Adhering to these guidelines is crucial for maintaining account eligibility. For the most detailed and up-to-date information, refer to Exclusive Markets’ official Terms of Service and FAQ section.

To maintain a fair and secure trading environment, DP Funded has established specific rules and guidelines. Below is an overview of the most pertinent information:

1. Prohibited Trading Practices

DP Funded explicitly prohibits certain trading behaviors to ensure integrity across its trading ecosystem:

• Market Manipulation: Includes artificial price influence, false buy/sell orders, or exploiting platform inefficiencies.
• High-Frequency Trading / Order Spamming: Frequent entries and exits within short intervals may be considered abusive, even if done manually.
• Scalping Strategies: Strategies involving trades closed within 3 minutes may be restricted depending on the account type.
• Hedging Between Accounts: Hedging trades across multiple accounts is not permitted and may result in disqualification.
• Latency Arbitrage & Price Lag Exploits: Taking advantage of delayed feeds or technical flaws is forbidden.

2. EA Account Rules

Expert Advisor (EA) accounts have their own set of strict conditions:

• EA Independence: The EA must make trading decisions independently and not copy trades or signals.
• VPS Restrictions: Only dedicated VPS with a static IP is allowed. Cloud-hosted or shared data center IPs are not permitted.
• Order Message Limit: The number of orders/messages must not exceed 1,000 within any 24-hour period.
• Audit Requirements: Traders must provide EA source code, settings, logs, and VPS credentials if requested.
• Lot Fee: EA accounts incur a $3 fee per traded lot.
• Combined EA Exposure: Total open positions across EA accounts must not exceed $100,000 in exposure.

3. Manual Challenge Account Rules

• No EA or Plugins: EA trading or third-party plugins are strictly prohibited.
• VPS/VPN Restrictions: Use of VPS or VPN for trading is not allowed, unless for login troubleshooting only — continued trading via these methods is a violation.

4. Risk Management Limits

• Maximum Daily Drawdown: 5% of the previous day's closing net equity. Calculated daily from 23:59 GMT+2/3.
• Maximum Total Drawdown: 10% of the original account balance.
• Single-Day or Single-Trade Profit Cap: You may not exceed 40% of the profit target in one trade or in a single day. Exceeding this cap will result in automatic position closures and daily trading suspension until the next day.

5. Leverage & Product Limits

• Maximum Leverage: 1:100 for major and minor currency pairs.
• Leverage for Other Products:
  • Indices: 1:50
  • Precious Metals: 1:50
  • Crude Oil & Gas: 1:50

6. Position & Order Limits

Maximum lot sizes are enforced based on account size. If you exceed the limit, trades may be forcibly closed and profits forfeited:

• $2,000 – Max 0.4 lots
• $5,000 – Max 1 lot
• $10,000 – Max 2 lots
• $25,000 – Max 5 lots
• $50,000 – Max 10 lots
• $100,000 – Max 20 lots
• $200,000 – Max 40 lots
• $500,000 – Max 80 lots

Note: The combined number of open and pending orders across MT4/MT5 must not exceed 1,500 total.

7. News & Weekend Restrictions

• Major News Trading Ban: No trades may be executed within 3 minutes before or after major economic data releases (e.g., NFP, CPI, FOMC).
• Pending Orders & News: If triggered during the restricted window, orders may still be reviewed and disqualified based on intent and timing.
• Weekend Positions: All trades must be closed 2 hours before the Friday market close. Trades may resume 2 hours after Sunday open.

8. Trading Platform & Servers

• Supported Platforms: MT4 and MT5 are both available.
• Demo Stage Servers: MT4 - DooFintech-Demo5 / MT5 - DooTechnology-Demo
• Funded Stage Servers: MT4 - DooPrime-Live 2 / MT5 - DooTechnology-Live

9. Inactivity & Evaluation Period

• 30-Day Inactivity Rule: Any account without a trade in 30 consecutive days will be deactivated and considered a failed challenge.
• 90-Day Challenge Limit: Traders must hit the profit target within 90 calendar days of placing their first trade.

10. Economic Calendar

DP Funded includes a built-in economic calendar showing high-impact, three-star news events by source country. However, traders must remain aware of sudden statements or global news, which may not be pre-listed but are still relevant for compliance.

11. IP Monitoring & Account Access

• Login IP: No restrictions for client portal login.
• Trading IP: Changing trading IP locations (e.g., between provinces) may trigger backend reviews. Suspicious behavior will be further investigated.

12. Holding Time Restrictions

DP Funded does not restrict trade duration, provided trades follow all fair usage policies. However, opening or closing trades within the 2-hour Friday window before close — or during the first 2 hours of Monday’s open — is strictly forbidden. The system will automatically close trades, and any losses will be the trader’s responsibility.

Adhering to these rules and guidelines is essential for maintaining your account standing with DP Funded. Violations may result in trade reversal, account deactivation, forfeiture of profits, or permanent disqualification. For the most accurate and current policies, please refer to DP Funded’s official FAQ.

To maintain a fair and secure trading environment, CTI (City Traders Imperium) enforces the following rules and restricted practices. Violations may result in profit removal, account breach (read‐only), or termination of access.

1. Prohibited Trading Practices

CTI explicitly forbids certain behaviours to preserve market integrity and evaluate individual skill:

• Exploitative strategies: Any strategy that exploits pricing inefficiencies, latency advantages, or hidden feed quirks may be disqualified. (Refer to CTI’s drawdown & risk policies.)
• Failing to set risk controls: All trades must follow risk guidelines such as stop losses or equivalent risk mitigation measures.
• Misuse of news trading or EA usage: While CTI allows news trading and EAs under certain conditions, these must not exceed accepted risk frameworks or bypass the spirit of consistent skill demonstration.
• Multiple account misuse or hidden coordination: Using multiple evaluation accounts to circumvent rules, sharing signals without disclosure or coordinating to offset risk (group hedging) may lead to breach.

2. News Trading & Expert Advisors (EAs)

Regarding high-impact events and automated tools:

• News trading: CTI permits trading around high‐impact events, but risk must be managed carefully and normal rules apply.
• Use of EAs / automation: EAs are allowed when you can demonstrate ownership and usage compliance; copy-trading or shared signals may be flagged.

3. Inactivity Rule

• Inactivity breach: If your account remains unused or does not meet required trade days (or phases) you may lose the challenge or be set to read-only.
• Planned absence: If you anticipate being away for an extended period, contact CTI support to potentially pause your account. (Check with the firm’s support.)

4. Drawdown & Risk Controls (Quick Reference)

• Maximum drawdown: CTI uses balance-based drawdown rather than time-limited evaluation windows.
• Leverage limits: Varies by program (e.g., up to 1 : 30 for forex in some cases).

5. Breaches & Enforcement

• Automated and manual detection: Accounts might be flagged or set to read-only if rules or risk limits are breached.
• Next steps: If your evaluation is unsuccessful, you may be required to re-qualify or purchase a new challenge.
• Severe / repeated violations: Breaches of the terms may lead to permanent suspension from CTI’s programmes.

For the complete and most up-to-date details, see CTI’s official FAQ / Knowledgebase.

To maintain a fair and secure trading environment, ThinkCapital has established specific rules and guidelines. Below is an overview of the most pertinent information:

1. Prohibited Trading Strategies

ThinkCapital strictly forbids trading practices that exploit the simulated trading environment or deviate from real-market conditions. Such prohibited strategies include:

• Grid (Reverse) Trading: Placing inverse buy and sell orders of the same instrument with similar risk levels, leading to potential market manipulation and over-leveraging.
• Hedging Across Multiple Accounts: Opening opposing positions across different accounts to exploit price movements without market risk.
• Collusion Between Users: Coordinated trading across multiple accounts to manipulate markets.
• Latency Arbitrage: Exploiting time delays between trading venues to gain unfair advantages.
• High-Frequency Trading (HFT): Using algorithms, bots, or Expert Advisors (EAs) to execute numerous trades rapidly, potentially leading to market manipulation.
• Abuse of Delayed Data Feeds or Simulated Environment: Utilizing delayed data or executing large-volume trades without a logical strategy to gain unfair advantages.
• Martingale Trading: Increasing investment size after each simulated loss to recover previous losses, posing significant risks.

Engaging in these strategies may result in trade reversals, account restrictions, or termination.

2. News Trading Policy

ThinkCapital's news trading policy depends on the account type:

• Challenge Accounts: News trading is allowed, but excessive reliance on high-impact news events for rapid gains may result in a review or reset to an earlier phase.
• Funded Accounts: News trading is prohibited unless the "News Trading Add-On" is purchased during the challenge phase. Without this add-on, trades cannot be executed two minutes before or after major economic news releases. Violations may result in immediate termination of the funded account.

3. Gambling & Reckless Trading Behavior

ThinkCapital prohibits trading behaviors that resemble gambling or reckless betting, including:

• Punting: Placing a small number of large, high-risk trades without a structured strategy.
• Overleveraging: Using excessive margin on a single trade, risking significant losses from minor market movements.
• Overexposure: Taking large positions in highly correlated assets, falsely assuming diversification.
• All-In Strategies: Risking a large percentage of the account balance on one trade without proper risk management.
• Doubling Down (Martingale): Increasing trade sizes after losses to recover quickly, increasing risk exposure.
• Excessive High-Frequency Scalping: Opening and closing trades within seconds without a sustainable long-term strategy.

Traders engaging in these practices may face warnings, trade restrictions, resets, or account termination.

Adhering to these guidelines is crucial for maintaining account eligibility. Violations can lead to restrictions, removal of trades, or account termination. For the most detailed and up-to-date information, refer to ThinkCapital's official Terms of Service and FAQ section.