FAQs

Account Management, Trading Behaviour and Responsible Trading

1. We reserve the right, but are not obligated, to limit the sale of our products or Services, including termination of active accounts, to any person who misuses our systems. This includes the use of expert advisors (EAs) which take advantage and/or jeopardize the backend systems of the Company’s / its technical partners. This also includes any trading behavior which aims to benefit from inefficiencies in platform, server or brokerage servers. These activities can also include, but are not limited to, latency arbitrage trading, long-short arbitrage trading, gap trading, spread arbitrage, reverse arbitrage, tick scalping, opposite trading between accounts, hedging EAs, grid systems or martingale EAs. We do not currently have an automated system to check for these EAs, like most firms our only way to see this is once a payout is requested and a member of the team manually checks your account – Our risk management system will automatically stop copying positions if the above EAs are detected, however, it does not have the ability to notify us. This means we may not always be able to notify traders if they have an EA that has violated the rules even though the live account had stopped copying, until a trader either requests a check on their trading account or, requests a scale or payout. IFT does not permit the use of signals. Trades must be yours at all times (there are no exceptions to this rule). Traders found to be using signal groups or using trades that are not their own, their accounts will be closed immediately. Using public EAs that are not your own and unique are prohibited. Copying accounts that are not your own is prohibited. More prohibited trading activity examples, but are not limited to, alone or in collusion with other persons’ combinations of trades, for example, simultaneously entering opposite positions on different accounts, or multiple traders placing the same trades. ‘All-in’ mentality where you have stacked position(s) on instrument(s), taking a gambling-like style, it is at our sole discretion to offer a free retry or refund if we see an ‘All-in’ trading style, we need to see traders show a consistent edge, we want to see good risk management and no gambling, this includes risking more than 50% of any of the drawdown limits in open positions (daily or maximum), if we feel a trader is using reckless behavior we may take action such as but not limited to; resetting the challenge(s), offer a refund(s), reduced payout percentage or refusal or payout, refusal of scale, reduced account leverage or terminate the account and permission to use our services, please remember we are a professional funding firm, we are here to support skilled traders, not gambling. Opening and closing trades on the same instrument within close proximity to each other is not prohibited. This is still a form of layering, also known as stacking, it is at IFT's discretion to determine whether a trader’s risk management is not being managed correctly. Opening multiple positions on correlated instruments or currency pairs can still lead to over-leveraging, which is another form of gambling. You can not use Challenge Passing services. This is a serious breach and we do take precautions to detect this, if you are executing trades on our Challenge accounts, Conventional or Instant Funding model the same time, direction and/or instruments as other traders, if you are trading from an IP not where your billing address is located and or other methods we may detect. Please note strategies where you open trades for less than 6 seconds, also known as tick scalping, are strictly prohibited.

We reserve the right to terminate the account and limit the sales of products and Services to customers who breach these clauses. Customer accounts that get terminated will not be able to access refunds and will not receive compensation under such circumstances.

Consistency Rule:

What we ARE Looking for in Funded Accounts:

Traders with a set, disciplined, consistent Trading System. A trading system consist of exact set rules for entires, initial stops, take profits, trailing methods, and exits. Traders that have mastered this system and have discipline and consistency and follow a day to day trading plan. Not erratic, not shooting for lucky windfall trades and putting IFT funds at risk without a system and good risk management behind it. Not changing and hopping from strategy to strategy with no direction. 

Traders that are consistent with trading system, size, days traded and risk management. 

Trader Funding is a partnership, we are looking for traders who trade a consistent plan with consistent size and can steadily grow their account. Not traders that have massive huge days, and then barely trade or attempt to "flip contracts" just to rack up days and get to a withdrawal. This is a "withdrawal strategy" not a trading strategy. This is why we also have the 30% profit rule and the 20% flipping rule as you will see more below. 

1. The Consistency Rule, ensures a steady flow of profits and keeps you safe from taking on too much risk on any single trade. The rule simply states that no single-day profit should make up 30% or more of the total profit throughout the challenge or funded pay period.

2.  This rule is designed to encourage disciplined and strategic trading practices, discouraging excessive risk-taking or erratic behavior. Traders are encouraged to focus on the quality of their trades rather than sheer volume, promoting a more sustainable and controlled trading environment.

   Failure to meet the 30% consistency threshold may result in the termination of your account.

At our prop firm, we have set specific maximum lot sizes for accounts of varying sizes. This is an important rule that we implement to ensure risk management and long-term sustainability for both our traders and the firm. Here's a breakdown of the maximum lot sizes based on account sizes:

• $100k accounts: Max open lot size of 4 lots
• $50k accounts: Max open lot size of 2 lots
• $20k accounts: Max open lot size of 1 lot

Why This Rule Is Important:

1. Risk Management: The primary reason for setting maximum lot sizes is to manage risk effectively. Larger positions carry greater risk, especially in volatile markets. By limiting the lot size, we mitigate potential losses that could be substantial relative to the account size.

2. Consistency and Discipline: These limits encourage traders to adopt a consistent and disciplined approach to trading. By restricting the size of trades, traders are more likely to focus on quality over quantity, leading to potentially more sustainable trading strategies.

3. Leverage Control: Trading on leverage can amplify gains, but it also increases the risk of significant losses. The max lot size helps control the level of leverage used in trading, aligning it with the trader’s account size and risk tolerance.

4. Longevity of Trading Career: By limiting exposure, we aim to protect our traders from the pitfalls of overtrading and overexposure, which are common reasons for the early termination of many trading careers. This rule is in place to aid in the longevity and success of our traders.

5. Firm’s Risk Management: These limits are not only for the trader's benefit but also for the firm’s overall risk management. It helps in maintaining a balanced and stable trading environment, which is crucial for the firm's long-term operation and success.

Important Note: While your MT4 account may technically allow you to open positions larger than the specified max lot sizes, doing so is prohibited and will result in the termination of your account. This is to enforce the rules strictly for the benefit of all parties involved.

Remember, these rules are in place for your protection and the overall health of our trading environment. Adhering to them is crucial for a successful trading career.

IFT is a Proprietary Trading firm for traders. Gambling is hard to define when trading due to the variety of strategies out there. However, as a proprietary trading firm, our responsibility is capital/risk management. It is our responsibility to protect the firm’s capital and help traders who have passed the challenges and/or traded our Instant Funding accounts correctly. We do not allow gambling or similar high-risk trading behavior.  

If IFT suspects a trader is attempting to use our accounts for gambling purposes, we may be forced to take action to protect the firm, such as reducing the leverage, reducing the profit splits, or terminating the trader’s account(s). These actions will only be taken after careful consideration by our risk management team and if the trader’s behavior falls within certain prohibited categories, such as, but not limited to, the below examples: Large quantities of accounts simultaneously. Traders are welcome to take challenges and instant accounts at the same time. Traders are not limited by this. However, if a trader is purchasing many challenges for example, and rolling into the next challenge again and again. Taking large positions, and sacrificing a large number of accounts in a short period of time is not allowed. 

This is different from taking challenges and passing/failing. This example is based on gambling mentality within the account and going through many accounts in a short time period.  

All-In trading. Opening multiple large positions in a row, known as “stacking”, can be considered a risky strategy. Layering positions into one instrument increasing the risk with each position added is not allowed due to the high-risk nature of this trading style. Overusing leverage in trading is similar to gambling and can result in a rapid loss in an account’s balance/equity. 

Traders must carefully assess their Maximum Loss limits before engaging in large-scale trading, be it through a single entry or a series of trades (stacking). We have a strict policy against traders who engage in trading with opposite positions on our platform. 

This approach goes against our risk management protocols and poses a threat to the integrity of our trading system. Such strategies are unsustainable in the long term and typically result in losses. They involve taking identical levels of risk on opposing sides of a trade using different accounts, which is not acceptable behavior on our platform. 

Opening single positions with large lots in an attempt to ‘Jump’ through the Profit Target, or ‘Recover’ an account in drawdown is also not allowed. We must be strict when it comes to our anti-gambling policy, because of this, from time to time, we may ask traders to retake a challenge without the gambling style.

Tick scalping & HFT although subjective are generally not allowed, we define these as trades that are only open for 1-12 seconds. 

Traders are limited to a maximum of 50 trades per trading day. This rule is in place to ensure effective risk management, maintain trading discipline, and safeguard the overall stability of the firm. Violating this limit will result in immediate termination of the trader’s account, with all profits and losses incurred on that day nullified.

IFT may choose to take action if we deem a trader to be “gambling” or “stacking” on our accounts. We want to emphasize that any action we take is done after careful consideration and only if the trader’s behavior falls within specific prohibited categories.

Opening large positions or large quantities consecutively on a single instrument is also known as “stacking”. This can be considered a form of gambling, along with opening consecutive positions in profit or loss, especially when the initial position exceeds proper risk management limits (most of the available margin).

However, it’s important to note that opening multiple positions on correlated instruments or currency pairs can still lead to over-leveraging. Scaling in or diluting positions is a common strategy, but it must be managed effectively to avoid increased stress and mistakes.

Traders should always consider their Maximum Loss objective to ensure responsible trading. It’s worth mentioning that the technique of opening and closing trades within close proximity to each other (1-10 seconds), is discouraged.

The use of Martingale and Grid strategies is strictly prohibited and may result in the termination of a funded account.
Funded accounts are subject to a daily drawdown limit of 5%, while challenges are exempt from daily drawdown restrictions.
The max drawdown is a dollar amount representing the maximum allowed loss from your initial account balance on any given day. The max drawdown is 10% of the Initial Account Balance. So, your losses should never surpass a 10% max loss of your initial account balance.
Funded accounts necessitate a minimum trading duration of 10 days, aligning with our consistency rule. Churning, defined as making small trades solely to fulfill the minimum trading days, is not permitted. We are actively seeking traders who exhibit steady consistency, discouraging risky trades made for quick gains.

We understand that our traders have different preferences when it comes to withdrawing their funds. We offer the choice between withdrawing by ACH Bank Transfer or Crypto.

Your first payout is 20 trading days after your first trade, after your first payout this is reduced to weekly.

Please ensure all trades are closed when you request a payout and that they stay closed until the payout process is completed.

Your Drawdown must be locked in to make a payout. The minimum payout threshold is $100 for all accounts.

To request a withdrawal, send us an email to withdraws@theinstantfundedtrader.com

We offer you the opportunity to scale your account to increase your potential profits. To be eligible for scaling, you must first achieve a minimum of 10% gain on your account. 

Scaling involves utilizing 10% of the account’s profits in order to double the account, while any remaining profit is yours to keep. This allows you to continue growing your account while minimizing risk. 

For example, on a $100,000 account. If you make a 10% gain ($10,000) you can scale your account to $200,000. When scaling, we use 10% of gain in your account. In this example, $10,000 would be used to scale and any remaining profit is yours to keep.

You can scale your account by emailing us. If your account is eligible and all trades are closed.

Account holders are able to scale up to $5,000,000, providing ample room for potential growth.

We don't limit the number of challenges or accounts you can purchase, and you can even take part in multiple challenges in parallel. However, When it comes to active accounts being run in parallel, each user will be able to have a combined starting equity of a maximum of  $1,000,000.  This means that you will be able to purchase an infinite amount of challenges provided they are within the $1M combined starting equity limit. From there these accounts can be scaled to $5M.

Minimum Trading Days:

- Challenges have a minimum of 5 trading days

- Funded accounts have a minimum of 10 trading days.

Our risk management systems may choose to hedge a portion or all of their trades to mitigate potential losses, as we see fit. Additionally, we may occasionally choose to put evaluation traders on a live server and hedge their positions.

These systems operate independently of the trader and do not impact their account’s trading activities.

Our risk management systems consider numerous factors and are tailored to enable successful traders to make profits in a live trading environment. This risk management approach guarantees the continuity of IFT. 

We provide Demo accounts with Live Market conditions such as live spreads and live market depth. Your trades are then sent to our internal risk management system. This makes it easier for us to manage our risk as a prop-firm. Either way, payouts will be made as long as the trader has not violated any rules of course. 

Code of Conduct

Trader Funding is a partnership, like any other business partnership or venture. Assuring that you are partnering with the right person is always smart business for both parties involved.

An Evaluation Account is exactly that, an Evaluation. Not just an evaluation of the trader's ability to press buttons and read a chart and hit a certain profit goal, but also an evaluation of the trader themselves.

Is the trader someone we would want to partner with?

Can they show professionalism towards staff, other traders, and IFT as a company?

Do they show the ability to follow procedures, guidelines and put in effort?

Are they a self start, problem solver, can they handle what a live market would throw at them?

Will they have plans in place for back ups and technical trouble shooting to help protect risk capital?

Simply put, if you were going to fund a Trader yourself, what type of professionalism and respect would you want to see? Would you want to see effort and time put into the training and guidelines?

Would it be important to you for the trader to fully understand the platform and tech they were using to trade YOUR live money? 

Of course you would! The Code of Conduct is very simple and easy to understand and abide by. 

Are funded accounts live?

We use live data for performance accounts. Initially they are in SIM but you still get paid the same way this is because many traders may blow a funded account quickly. So this is done to protect the company and you as a customer. One we see consistency we copy the trades via api in a prop account. 

Once we see long term consistency you are placed into a live prop account.

So, there are no other requirements (credit checks / background checks etc..) to get funded except passing the test?

Correct. No credit checks, background checks or asset requirements, etc...to get an Evaluation Account or a Funded Account. Once it is time to move into a Live Funded Prop account there will be standard paperwork and background check procedures at that point, that same type of paperwork to open a usual broker account directly.