The Funded Trader rules require the Knight Pro Challenge with a 10% target, allow a 3% soft breach, and an 8% max drawdown. Weekend trades are force-closed Friday 4 PM and reopened 5 PM for crypto like BTC/USD and ETH/USD.
Trading strategies such as Grid, Copy, Latency Arbitrage, and Streak Escalation are banned.
News Trading is restricted for Standard accounts, with a 4-minute ban - 2 minutes before/after red folder news.

The Funded Trader Rule Topics
Here is the main rule categories enforced across The Funded Trader Prop Firm environment:
- Challenge Rules
- Overnight and Weekend Trading
- Prohibited Strategies
- News Trading
- High-Frequency Trading (HFT)
- Merged Accounts
- Inactivity
- EA Usage
- Trading Hours
- VPN/VPS Policy
- Payout Rules
The Funded Trader Challenge Rules
Each challenge type at The Funded Trader has unique targets and drawdown limits. Here's a detailed table of their evaluation criteria:
Challenge | Profit Target(s) | Daily Drawdown | Max Drawdown |
Knight Pro Challenge | 10% | 3% (soft breach) | 8% |
Knight Challenge | 10% | 3% | 8% |
Royal Challenge | Phase 1: 8%, Phase 2: 5% | 5% | 10% |
Royal Pro Challenge | Phase 1: 8%, Phase 2: 5% | 5% (soft breach) | 10% |
Standard Challenge | Phase 1: 10%, Phase 2: 5% | 5%; +2% with add-on | 10% |
Rapid Challenge | Phase 1: 8%, Phase 2: 5% | 5% | 8% |
Dragon Challenge | Phase 1: 8%, Phase 2: 5%, Phase 3: 5% | 5% | 10% |
Classic 1 Step Challenge | 10% | 3% | 6% |
Classic 2 Step Challenge | Phase 1: 8%, Phase 2: 5% | 4% | 8% |
As mentioned above, Knight and Classic challenges have the highest profit targets as they are 1 step.

The Funded Trader Overnight and Weekend Trading
Weekend Trading is not allowed at Standard, Rapid, Dragon, and Knight Challenges (all phases and funded accounts). All trades are force-closed Friday at 4 PM EST; Accounts reopen after 5 PM EST for crypto trading.
The Funded Trader Prohibited Strategies
As with many Prop Firms, The Funded Trader restricts certain trading activities:
- Grid Trading: Simultaneous buy/sell orders at equal distances;
- Copy Trading: Mirroring another account’s trades is not permitted;
- Latency Arbitrage: Exploiting execution speed is banned;
- Streak Risk Escalation: Increasing lot sizes after losses is forbidden.
The Funded Trader News Trading
News Trading is prohibited at Standard, Rapid, Royal, and Dragon Challenges, while it’s permitted at Knight, Knight Pro, and Royal Pro (with caution); No trades are accepted 2 minutes before and after red folder news (4-minute ban).
The Funded Trader HFT
Here are the conditions associated with High Frequency Trading; The Funded Trader HFT Policy:
- Scalping Permitted: On all accounts
- News Scalping Banned: Within 2 minutes before/after events on Royal, Standard, Rapid, and Dragon
- Allowed Accounts: Knight Pro, Knight, Classic, and Royal Pro
The Funded Trader Merged Accounts
Merging is not allowed across challenges or funded accounts; Traders may hold up to $1.2M in active demo challenges.
The Funded Trader Inactivity
Make at least one trade of 0.01 lot or more every 30 days to remain active.
The Funded Trader EA’s
Use of trading robots and Expert Advisors (EAs) is prohibited and strictly banned.

The Funded Trader Trading Hours (Crypto)
Here are the valid trading hours on cryptos:
- Crypto Assets: BTC/USD, ETH/USD, LTC/USD, BCH/USD, SOL/USD
- Weekend Times: Saturdays and Sundays from 12:06 AM to 11:59 PM (UTC+3)
- Maintenance: Every other week, 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM EST; next on June 6
The Funded Trader VPN/VPS
VPN/VPS is allowed, but misuse may cause account violations. Use during KYC/AML may lead to funding denial.
The Funded Trader Payout Rules
Initial Payout is available 14 days after the first trade; Next payouts will be scheduled based on the selected challenge.
Writer’s Opinion and Conclusion
The Funded Trader rules enforce Royal Challenge and Royal Pro Challenge split targets into Phase 1: 8% and Phase 2: 5%, with up to 10% max.
Scalping is permitted, but news scalping is banned on select challenges. Merging is disallowed beyond $1.2M demo. Stay active with at least 0.01 lot every 30 days, avoid EAs, and request payouts 14 days after the first trade.
For more educational content, check out The Funded Trader Tutorials page.