Futures Prop Firm Rules Explained | Trade Smart with Prop Firm Match

Prohibited Practices

Hedging:

At DayTraders.com, we enforce strict risk management guidelines to promote transparent and fair trading practices. As part of these guidelines, hedging across accounts or within the same account is strictly prohibited.

What Does This Mean?

No Opposite Positions Across Accounts: Traders are not allowed to hold opposite positions (i.e., long and short) in the same or related instruments across different accounts. For example, if you go long on NQ (Nasdaq futures) in one account, you cannot go short on NQ in another account at the same time.
No Hedging in Related Instruments: Additionally, traders cannot hedge by taking opposing positions in related instruments, such as going long on NQ (NASDAQ) in one account and short on ES (S&P futures) in another account. Hedging between correlated markets or instruments is also not permitted.
No Simultaneous Long and Short Positions: Traders cannot simultaneously hold long and short positions on the same asset within any account, regardless of the trading strategy.

High-Frequency Trading (HFT):

At DayTraders.com, we maintain strict guidelines to ensure a level playing field for all traders. As part of these guidelines, we do not allow the use of High Frequency Trading (HFT) strategies on our platform.

What Does This Mean?

Manual Trading Required: High Frequency Trading (HFT) strategies that rely on the rapid execution of multiple trades within very short time intervals are not allowed. This includes trading systems or algorithms designed to execute hundreds or thousands of trades per second or minute.
Prohibition of HFT Algorithms: Any trading activity that involves the use of HFT software, algorithms, or systems aimed at exploiting price discrepancies in milliseconds or microseconds is strictly prohibited.
No Trade Overload: Excessive trade volume over short periods that is characteristic of HFT will be flagged and considered a violation of this rule.

Martingale:

At DayTraders.com, we maintain strict guidelines to ensure a level playing field for all traders. As part of these guidelines, we do not allow the use of Martingale strategies on our platform.

What Does This Mean?

No Martingale Position Sizing: Any trading strategy that involves systematically doubling or significantly increasing position size after a losing trade in an attempt to recover losses is strictly prohibited. This applies regardless of the instrument traded or the account type held.
Prohibition of Loss Recovery Strategies: Trading approaches that are designed to offset previous losses by exponentially scaling up trade size rather than making independent, merit-based trading decisions are not permitted on our platform.
Risk Management Compliance: All position sizing must remain consistent with sound risk management practices and must comply with the drawdown and position size limits outlined in your account rules. Using progressively larger positions to chase losses will be flagged as a violation of this rule.
(DCA allowed)

Minimum Activity Policy:

Your activity requirement depends on whether you are on a Monthly or Lifetime account plan.

MONTHLY ACCOUNTS (Monthly Recurring Fee)

Accounts are rebilled every 30 days from the original purchase date
To keep your account active you must complete at least 1 trading day within each 30-day billing cycle
That trading day must meet the minimum daily profit for your account size
Consistency is not required
Best for traders who trade less frequently.

LIFETIME ACCOUNTS (One-Time Fee)

One-time payment with no monthly rebilling
To keep your account active and in good standing you must complete 4 trading days within a rolling 30-day period
Each trading day must meet the minimum daily profit for your account size
Consistency is not required
Best for more active traders.

Minimum daily profit requirements per account size: https://daytraders.com/help/articles/14368378-evaluation-account-rules#h_a826b5d75a

GENERAL RULES

News Trading Rule

Evaluation: Allowed
Funded/Instant Funding: Prohobited to execute(pending orders including; market orders, stop loss or take profit orders) or close any trade within 5 minutes before and after high impact news event on affected instruments . Violation results to profit deduction except the trade was open 5 hours prior to the news event and automatically closed within the 10 min window.
All major U.S. high-impact news events (marked as 'Red Folder') affect all trading instruments
Repeated violations may result in stricter action, including account termination.
Instant Prime allows news trading with an add-on.

Expert Advisors (EAs)

EAs are allowed only on the challenge phase of assessment base accounts, not on funded accounts.
Traders must customize EA settings to match their own style, cannot hide EA usage, and cannot use commercially available automated EAs.

External API Usage Rule:

Prohibited on all Simulated Funded Accounts.
All third-party tools, applications, or services requiring API access (including read-only) are disabled such as analytics platforms, journaling tools, automation software, and trade copiers.
The policy applies universally with no exceptions to ensure fairness and long-term sustainability for the firm and traders.

Copy Trading

Manual copy trading is allowed between your own TOT accounts and other personally owned prop firm or broker accounts, on both evaluation and funded stages. However, copy trading between TOT accounts is only permitted on evaluation accounts — not on funded or instant funded accounts. Copying between different users is strictly prohibited. If you hold multiple funded accounts, identical trades must be placed at least 30 minutes apart to avoid being flagged. Violations trigger an account review, and if confirmed, the account may be reset or closed depending on the severity.
See details: https://help.toponetrader.com/en/articles/8487707-is-copy-trading-allowed-at-top-one-trader

Weekend Trading/Holding:

Allowed on all assessment based accounts on both evaluation and funded | For Instant Funding & Instant prime, Not Allowed except with the add-on
Crypto trading is allowed over the weekend, but only if the trades are opened after Friday 8 PM EST.

Inactivity Rule

There's a 30-day inactivity rule. You must place at least one trade every 30 days (counting from account purchase date, not from first trade date) to avoid an account breach due to inactivity.

Stop Loss Rule

You must have an active Stop Loss in place at all times when entering a trade.
Removed with add-on

Soft Breach Limits

1-Step Nova & 1-Step Flash — Unlimited
2-Step Pro — 8
Instant Prime — 5
Instant Funding — 10
Exceeding these limits results in a hard breach.

Soft Breach Violations

Violating the 10 minutes news restriction window
Weekend Holding for restricted accounts
Opening a trade without a stop-loss unless an Add - on is purchased
Allowing more than a 2% loss per symbol on open trades or a 2.5% loss on all open trades. Should this happen, Equity Shield will protect your account by automatically closing trades in most cases
Funded Accounts have a 20% open lot size limit based on the account size, therefore if the total lots placed exceed the max lots, all open trades will be closed. see lot size restrictions details: https://help.toponetrader.com/en/articles/8318242-are-there-any-lot-size-restrictions

Minimum Hold Time Rule for Trades

All profitable trades must be held for at least 5 minutes before being closed. Closing a profitable trade in less than 5 minutes whether manually, by take profit, or by a stop loss (if set in profit), violates the rule.
Consequences:
- During Challenge Phases: Violations are reviewed by the Risk Team. Depending on severity, traders may be required to retake the challenge or receive a formal warning.
- On Funded Accounts: Profits from non-compliant trades are deducted, and traders receive a warning. Repeated violations can result in account termination.

Prohibited Trading Practices

High Frequency Trading (HFT), Tick Scalping, Latency Trading, Latency Arbitrage, Arbitrage Trading, Copy Trading (between accounts not owned by the same person), Group Trading, Hedging or Group Hedging Across Multiple Accounts, News Trading on Funded Accounts, Grid Trading, Martingale Strategy, 3rd Party Trading or ""Pass Your Challenge"" Programs, Masking of Expert Advisors (EAs), Gambling, Over-Leveraging, YOLO Trading, IP Address Sharing or Multiple IP Use Across Accounts, Rolling/Churning of Accounts.
See Details: https://help.toponetrader.com/en/articles/9047696-what-are-the-restricted-prohibited-trading-strategies-at-top-one-trader

EquityShield

Automatic Risk Management Tool: https://help.toponetrader.com/en/articles/9181278-what-is-the-equityshield

IP / VPN / VPS Policy

Violations Include:
- Using multiple IPs for one account.
- Trading multiple accounts from the same/similar IPs.
- Copying or hedging trades across different accounts or firms.
VPS Usage: Allowed — must have a static IP and be used responsibly. Notify support if changing or traveling.
VPN Usage: Strictly prohibited — using a VPN can trigger security flags and lead to account breaches or suspension.
cTrader (No longer offered) Restriction: U.S. IP logins are automatically hard breached with no refunds.
Penalties: Any violations may result in account breach, profit forfeiture, blacklisting, and potential legal action.
See Details: https://help.toponetrader.com/en/articles/8733438-are-there-ip-address-restrictions

INSTANT FUNDING & INSTANT PRIME

Minimum Trading days:

No minimum trading days.

NOVA

The NOVA Account is a 1-step evaluation with a $7 entry fee and a pay-after-you-pass model. Once passed, traders pay a one-time activation fee to unlock their funded account, with a 30-day window to complete activation.

Minimum Trading Days:

None

1 STEP FLASH

Minimum Trading Days

Evaluation & Funded: At least 3 profitable days with at least 0.5% net profit of the initial account balance each day.

Daily Profit Cap(Funded Only)

The maximum daily profit is 3% of the funded starting balance -
This is neither a soft breach nor a hard breach

2 - STEP PRO

Minimum Trading Days

Evaluation & Funded: At least 3 profitable days with at least 0.5% net profit of the initial account balance each day.

Daily Profit Cap

(Funded Only): $3,000

Flash, Nova, & Pro Max Open Risk Rule (Equity Shield)

Max Risk per Symbol: If the floating loss on a single symbol reaches 2% (New accounts – from Mar. 27, 2026 | 1% for existing accounts - before Mar. 27, 2026) of starting balance, all open trades on that symbol will, in most cases, be automatically closed. Applies to one symbol, even if multiple positions are open.
Max Combined Risk: If combined floating drawdown reaches 2.5% (New accounts – from Mar. 27, 2026 | 1.1% for existing accounts - before Mar. 27, 2026) of starting balance, all open trades across all symbols will, in most cases, be automatically closed. Applies to total floating loss across all symbols.

These actions are classified as a soft breach

PAYDAY Account

The PAYDAY Account is a short-term, objective-based trading account where traders complete a set number of profitable trades within 8 hours to earn a payout. There is no traditional Phase 1, Phase 2, or Instant Funded structure.

Access PAYDAY accounts: here

How It Works

Choose an entry stake between $25 and $500 (in $25 increments)
Select a multiplier (2x, 5x, or 10x) which sets your payout and required profitable trades
Complete the required profitable trades within 8 hours without breaching the trailing equity loss limit
Request your payout, after which the account is closed

Account Specifications

Account Size: $100,000 (fixed, regardless of stake)
Profit Target: None (objective-based instead)
Timeframe: 8 hours (timer starts from first trade)
Max Loss Limit: 1.5% trailing equity - never locks at the starting balance or moves back down
Leverage: Forex 1:20 | Indices & Metals 1:10 | Crypto 1:2
Profit Split: 100%
Inactivity Period: 3 days from purchase to begin trading the account.

Multiplier Options and Payout

2x — 3 profitable trades | Payout: Stake x 2
5x — 4 profitable trades | Payout: Stake x 5
10x — 6 profitable trades | Payout: Stake x 10

Profitable Trade Requirement

Each qualifying trade must close with at least 1% net profit ($1,000)
Trades below 1% do not count toward the objective
Only one trade open at a time — partial closes still count as one trade

Trading Conditions

News Trading: Allowed (including high-impact events)
Weekend & Overnight Holding: Allowed if the market is available within the 8-hour window
Minimum Hold Time: None — profits can be secured instantly
Stop Loss: Not required

Restrictions

EAs, bots, trade managers, and automated/semi-automated tools are not allowed — manual trading only
Copy trading between PAYDAY accounts is prohibited (including manual copying), though multiple accounts can be purchased and traded independently

Payout Eligibility

A payout can be requested once the required profitable trades are completed within 8 hours, no rule is broken, and the trailing max loss limit is not breached. A linked Rise account and completed KYC/contract are required to withdraw. After payout approval, the account closes and a new one can be purchased.
Payout Frequency Limit: Maximum of one payout per day per trader

Futures Prop Firm Rules25