Rules
The rules, in plain words
Headline percentages are not comparable between firms. What matters is how each one is measured. Here is what each term means and how we publish it.
The numbers that apply to you are on your challenge. Each challenge is tied to one version of the rules. A version is never edited after it is in use; a change is always a new version. See the exact figures on the challenges page.
Profit targets
A challenge has two phases. Each has a profit target, expressed as a percentage of the starting balance. You must reach the target in that phase to move on.
Maximum daily loss
A limit on how much the account may lose in a single day. Which day, and when it resets, is set by a named timezone in the rules, so there is no ambiguity about when “today” starts and ends.
Maximum loss
A limit on how far the account may fall overall. It is either static, measured from the starting balance and never moving, or trailing, which follows your highest point. Each challenge says which it uses.
Equity or balance
Losses can be measured on balance (closed trades only) or equity (including open, unrealised profit and loss). The rules for each challenge state which. Equity is stricter, because an open trade that is losing counts immediately.
Minimum trading days
You must trade on at least a set number of separate days in each phase, so a target cannot be reached in a single lucky session.
A worked example
Illustration only, not a price list. Take a virtual balance of $10,000 with a 10% static maximum loss. The limit is fixed at 10% of $10,000, which is $1,000, so equity has to stay above $9,000, however high the account has been before. A 5% daily limit works out to $500 in a day. How each day is measured, and exactly where a limit is reached, is stated in the rules of the challenge you choose.
Prohibited practices
Some trading practices give an unfair advantage and are not allowed, for example exploiting delayed prices or trading against another account you control. The full list, with examples, will be published here before challenges open to the public. It is not final yet.