The Trading Pit Futures

50K Account
Daily Pause: $1,000 (Soft Breach)
Maximum Drawdown: $2,000
Profit Target: $3,000

100K Account
Daily Pause: $2,000 (Soft Breach)
Maximum Drawdown: $3,000
Profit Target: $6,000

150K Account
Daily Pause: $3,000 (Soft Breach)
Maximum Drawdown: $4,500
Profit Target: $9,000

The Daily Pause applies only during the Challenge Phase and does not apply during the Earning Phase.

A Soft Breach closes open positions and pauses trading until the next trading day without terminating the account, unless the Maximum Drawdown is also breached.

Maximum Drawdown trails the End-of-Day (EOD) balance until the drawdown limit reaches the initial account balance, where it becomes fixed.

50K Account
Daily Pause: Starts at $1,200 (Soft Breach)
Maximum Drawdown: $2,000
Profit Target for Payout: $3,000

100K Account
Daily Pause: Starts at $2,200 (Soft Breach)
Maximum Drawdown: $3,500
Profit Target for Payout: $6,000

The Daily Pause is dynamic. It increases to 60% of the highest cumulative End-of-Day profit and never decreases from its highest level.

Reaching the Daily Pause closes open positions and pauses trading until the next trading day without terminating the account, unless the Maximum Drawdown is also breached.

Maximum Drawdown trails the End-of-Day (EOD) balance until the drawdown limit reaches the initial account balance, where it becomes fixed.

The profit target is a payout eligibility requirement, not a Challenge target. A higher profit amount may be required under the 20% Consistency Rule.

News trading is allowed during both the Challenge and Earning phases, including high-impact news events.

News trading is allowed, including during high-impact news events, with no time restrictions before or after news releases.

▫️ Profit Share:
Traders receive 80% of profits.

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First Payout

▫️ Maximum Payout:
50K Account: $2,500
100K Account: $3,500
150K Account: $5,000
Or 50% of the Profit Buffer, whichever is lower.

▫️ Requirements:
- Complete 5 Profitable Trading Days
- Earn at least $150 on each qualifying day
- Profitable days do not need to be consecutive

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Subsequent Payouts

▫️ Maximum Payout:
50K Account: $2,500
100K Account: $3,500
150K Account: $5,000
Or 50% of the Profit Buffer, whichever is lower.

▫️ Requirements:
- Complete 5 New Profitable Trading Days
- Earn at least $150 on each qualifying day
- Profitable days do not need to be consecutive
- The account balance must exceed its previous post-payout balance by at least $0.01.

▫️ Payout Frequency:
Payouts can be requested every 7 days once all requirements are met.

▫️ Profit Share:
Traders receive 90% of profits.

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Payout Caps by Payout Number

▫️ Payouts 1–3:
50K Account: $2,000
100K Account: $2,500

▫️ Payouts 4–5:
50K Account: $2,500
100K Account: $3,000

▫️ Payout 6 and Onwards:
50K Account: $3,000
100K Account: $3,500

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Payout Eligibility Requirements

▫️ Trading Days:
Complete at least 5 Trading Days.

▫️ Profit Target:
50K Account: $3,000
100K Account: $6,000
The profit target calculation resets to zero after each approved payout.

▫️ Consistency Rule:
The most profitable trading day must not exceed 20% of total profits within the payout cycle.
Exceeding the limit delays payout eligibility without terminating the account. The rule resets after each approved payout.

▫️ Minimum Payout:
$500

▫️ Payout Frequency:
Payouts can be requested every 5 days once all requirements are met.

What is the End-of-Day Trailing Maximum Drawdown (EOD Trailing Max Drawdown)?

In Futures Prime accounts, the drawdown level is adjusted based on the End-of-Day Balance (EOD), not the highest intraday profit.

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How Does It Work?

▫️ If your End-of-Day Balance increases:
The drawdown limit moves upward accordingly.

▫️ If your account balance decreases on a later day:
The drawdown limit does not decrease. It remains at its highest previously reached level.

▫️ Intraday profits and temporary balance peaks do not increase the drawdown limit.
However, your Equity must never reach the current drawdown limit during trading.

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Important Point

The drawdown limit stops moving upward once it reaches the initial account balance.

Example:
A 100K account with a maximum drawdown of $3,000.

The initial drawdown limit is: $97,000.

As the End-of-Day Balance increases, the drawdown limit moves upward.

Once the drawdown limit reaches $100,000, it stops trailing permanently and remains fixed at that level.

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The drawdown limit does not move upward intraday. It is adjusted only at the end of the trading day when a higher closing balance is achieved.

If a later trading day ends with a lower balance, the drawdown limit does not decrease and remains at its previous level.

Futures Instant accounts use EOD Trailing Max Drawdown. The drawdown limit moves upward based on the highest End-of-Day Balance, not intraday profit peaks.

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Drawdown Limits

▫️ 50K Account:
Maximum Drawdown: $2,000
Initial Drawdown Limit: $48,000

▫️ 100K Account:
Maximum Drawdown: $3,500
Initial Drawdown Limit: $96,500

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Example: 50K Account

▫️ The initial drawdown limit is $48,000.

▫️ If the End-of-Day Balance reaches $51,000, the drawdown limit rises to $49,000.

▫️ If a later trading day closes at $52,000, the drawdown limit reaches $50,000 and becomes permanently fixed.

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Important Notes

▫️ The drawdown limit does not move intraday. It adjusts only according to the End-of-Day Balance.

▫️ If the balance decreases later, the drawdown limit does not move downward.

▫️ Once the drawdown limit reaches the initial account balance, it becomes static.

▫️ If Equity reaches the current drawdown limit, the account is permanently breached.

Daily Pause is the maximum amount an account can lose during a trading day before trading is temporarily paused.

It applies only during the Challenge Phase. There is no Daily Pause in the Earning Phase.

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Daily Pause Limits

▫️ 50K Account: $1,000
▫️ 100K Account: $2,000
▫️ 150K Account: $3,000

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How Is It Calculated?

The Daily Pause threshold is based on the previous day's closing balance. It is recalculated daily at 16:15 CT.

If Equity reaches the Daily Pause threshold, open positions are closed and trading is paused until the next trading day without terminating the account.

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Example: 50K Account

▫️ Initial Balance: $50,000
▫️ Daily Pause: $1,000
▫️ Initial Pause Threshold: $49,000

If the account closes the day at $49,100, the next day's Daily Pause threshold becomes $48,100.

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Important Note

Daily Pause is a soft breach, but it does not protect against a Maximum Drawdown breach. Slippage or reaching the Maximum Drawdown threshold first may result in permanent account failure.

Futures Instant accounts use a Dynamic Daily Pause.

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Starting Limits

▫️ 50K Account: $1,200
▫️ 100K Account: $2,200

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How Is It Calculated?

The Daily Pause amount increases to 60% of the highest accumulated End-of-Day (EOD) profit whenever that amount exceeds the starting limit.

It is recalculated daily and never decreases after increasing, even if accumulated profits decline.

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Example: 50K Account

▫️ The Daily Pause starts at $1,200.

▫️ If the highest accumulated EOD profit reaches $2,300, the Daily Pause increases to $1,380.

▫️ If accumulated profit later decreases to $2,000, the Daily Pause remains at $1,380.

▫️ If accumulated profit reaches a new high of $2,900, the Daily Pause increases to $1,740.

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What Happens at the Limit?

Open positions are closed and trading is paused until the next trading day without permanently failing the account.

However, breaching the Maximum Drawdown results in permanent account failure.

The Consistency Rule encourages traders to distribute profits across multiple trading days rather than relying on a single exceptionally profitable day.

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1. Futures Prime – 40% Consistency

The rule applies only during the Challenge Phase. There is no Consistency Rule during the Earning Phase.

The most profitable trading day must not exceed 40% of the profit target.

Exceeding this limit does not terminate the account. Instead, the profit target automatically increases until the best trading day represents 40% of the adjusted target.

Example: 50K Account

▫️ Original Profit Target: $3,000

▫️ Maximum Best Day Profit: $1,200

▫️ Actual Best Day Profit: $1,500

New Profit Target:
$1,500 ÷ 40% = $3,750

The Challenge profit target increases to $3,750 instead of $3,000.

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2. Futures Instant – 20% Consistency

The rule applies during the Earning Phase as a payout eligibility requirement.

The most profitable trading day must not exceed 20% of total profits within the payout cycle.

Exceeding this limit does not terminate the account. Traders must continue generating profits until their best trading day represents 20% or less of total profits.

Example: 50K Account

▫️ Base Payout Profit Target: $3,000

▫️ Best Trading Day Profit: $1,000

Total Profit Required:
$1,000 ÷ 20% = $5,000

The trader must reach $5,000 in total profits instead of $3,000 to satisfy the Consistency Rule, provided the best trading day remains at $1,000.

The Consistency Rule resets after each approved payout. Only profits generated during the new payout cycle are counted.

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Summary

▫️ Prime: Exceeding the Consistency Rule increases the Challenge profit target.

▫️ Instant: Exceeding the Consistency Rule delays payout eligibility until the required percentage is met.

In both programs, exceeding the Consistency Rule does not, by itself, terminate the account.

What is Micro-Scalping, and is it allowed at The Trading Pit?

Micro-Scalping is prohibited under The Trading Pit's trading rules across all account types and trading instruments.

It refers to opening and closing positions within a very short period, typically around 10–15 seconds, to capture extremely small and rapid price movements.

Regular scalping is allowed in Futures Prime and Futures Instant accounts. However, Micro-Scalping is prohibited under the company's policy.

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What is considered Micro-Scalping?

When trades lasting approximately 10–15 seconds become a core part of a trader's profit-generating strategy, this activity may be classified as prohibited Micro-Scalping.

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How is Micro-Scalping detected?

The Trading Pit's monitoring systems review trade holding times and the structure of profitable trading activity.

An account may be flagged when a significant portion of profitable trades, approximately 40% or more, comes from ultra-short-duration positions.

The 40% figure is an approximate detection indicator, not a guaranteed safe threshold permitting Micro-Scalping.

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Does closing a losing trade quickly violate the rule?

No.
Losing trades may be closed at any time without violating the Micro-Scalping policy.

The rule focuses on trading patterns where a substantial portion of profits comes from extremely short-duration trades.

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What actions may the company take?

▫️ Challenge Accounts:
Traders may receive a formal warning if Micro-Scalping is detected.

▫️ Earning Accounts:
Traders may receive a warning, and profits generated through Micro-Scalping may be deducted from the account.

Continued non-compliance or repeated violations may result in the denial of reward or upgrade requests. In severe cases, this may lead to account termination.

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Does the policy apply to all accounts?

Yes.
The Micro-Scalping policy applies to all current and future accounts and covers trading instruments including:
- Futures
- CFDs
- Stocks

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How can traders avoid violating the rule?

Trading strategies must not primarily rely on opening and closing positions within 10–15 seconds to generate the majority of trading profits.

Is overnight trading allowed?

Holding positions overnight or over the weekend is not permitted.

All positions must be closed before the daily market close.

On regular trading days, positions must be closed before 3:55 PM CT.

The system automatically liquidates remaining open positions before market close.

Holiday Trading Sessions

Market closing hours may differ during official holiday sessions.

The standard automatic liquidation five minutes before market close does not apply during these sessions.

Traders are responsible for manually closing their positions before the applicable market closing time.

When Does Trading Resume?

Trading resumes at the next market opening, according to each instrument's trading hours.

After the weekend, markets generally reopen on Sunday evening according to the relevant market schedule.

Applicable Accounts

Futures Prime: This rule applies during both the Challenge and Earning phases.

Futures Instant: This rule also applies to Instant Earning accounts.

CT is used as the reference time, accounting for daylight saving time changes in the United States.

Is Copy Trading Allowed?

The Trading Pit allows copy trading under specific conditions that differ between Futures Prime and Futures Instant.

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1. Futures Prime

Manual and automated copy trading is permitted between accounts owned by the same trader, subject to the following limits:

▫️ Up to 5 Challenge Accounts.

▫️ Up to 5 Earning Accounts.

▫️ Copying trades from an external trading account is permitted, provided the trader owns that account.

▫️ Copying trades from other traders or using signals from accounts or sources not owned by the trader is prohibited.

▫️ Copy trading between Challenge and Earning Accounts is prohibited.

If the same strategy is copied across more than 5 Challenge Accounts, The Trading Pit reserves the right to deny upgrades for additional accounts.

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2. Futures Instant

Copy trading is permitted between Futures Instant accounts under the following conditions:

▫️ Trades may be copied between a maximum of 2 Futures Instant Accounts.

▫️ Both accounts must be owned by the same trader.

▫️ Copying trades or signals from other traders is prohibited.

▫️ Shared or replicated trading between different individuals is prohibited.

Each trader may hold a maximum of 2 active Futures Instant Accounts.

1. Futures Prime

Challenge Phase

There is no limit on the number of Futures Challenge accounts a trader can purchase or open.

Using the same email address for all purchases is recommended to manage accounts from a single dashboard.

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Earning Phase

Traders may hold up to 5 active Earning Accounts at the same time.

If a trader already has 5 active Earning Accounts and passes an additional Challenge, the new account upgrade will be placed in a queue.

The pending upgrade can be requested after one of the existing active Earning Accounts is terminated.

Maximum Potential Nominal Allocation

With account sizes up to $150K and a maximum of 5 active Earning Accounts, the combined nominal allocation may reach $750,000.

This represents the combined starting account sizes, not a separately published capital allocation cap.

The 5-account copy trading limit does not restrict the total number of Challenge accounts a trader may purchase.

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2. Futures Instant

Traders may hold up to 2 active Futures Instant Accounts at the same time.

Available account sizes:

▫️ $50K Account.

▫️ $100K Account.

Maximum Potential Nominal Allocation

Holding two $100K accounts results in a combined nominal allocation of $200,000.

Futures Instant accounts provide direct access to the Earning Phase, without completing a Challenge.

Is Automated Trading Allowed?

Yes, The Trading Pit allows Expert Advisors (EAs) and automated trading systems on Futures accounts, provided they comply with trading rules and do not perform prohibited strategies.

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Prohibited Trading Practices

▫️ Copying trading signals or trades from other traders.

▫️ Using prohibited Micro / Tick Scalping or ultra-fast trading strategies.

▫️ High Frequency Trading (HFT).

▫️ Prohibited arbitrage strategies, including Latency Arbitrage, Reverse Arbitrage, and Hedge Arbitrage.

▫️ Using Grid or Martingale strategies, whether manually or through automated systems.

▫️ Using Emulators or automated tools designed to exploit the platform or bypass monitoring systems.

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Hedging

Holding simultaneous BUY and SELL positions on the same instrument within a single account is prohibited.

Hedging across different accounts is also prohibited, including opposite positions in correlated financial instruments.

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Shared Automated Trading Systems

EAs used by different traders to execute identical strategies and produce identical trading results are prohibited.

Third-party EAs are not automatically prohibited, but they must not copy other traders' activity or execute prohibited shared strategies.

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Consequences of Violations

Prohibited trading practices may result in denied account upgrades or payout requests, exclusion of affected trades, or account termination.

Challenge fees are not refunded when prohibited EA activities are used.

These rules apply to Futures Prime and Futures Instant accounts.

Trading Devices and Network Policy

All trading activity must be conducted from a personal device used exclusively by the account holder.

Sharing trading devices with other individuals or accessing multiple accounts from the same IP address or network is not permitted.

Shared IP usage may indicate linked or coordinated trading activity. The company may assess this alongside trading behavior, execution patterns, and account linkage indicators.

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VPN Usage

VPN usage is permitted, provided it is not used to facilitate shared account access or conceal coordinated trading activity.

Traders may connect from different locations and use multiple networks, including home Wi-Fi and mobile data.

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VPS Usage

The Trading Pit permits the use of a Virtual Private Server (VPS) to run Expert Advisors (EAs), provided all trading rules are followed and no prohibited strategies are executed.

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IP Address Changes

▫️ Changing an IP address every few days due to travel is not considered an issue.

▫️ Changing IP addresses multiple times within the same day may raise suspicions of prohibited account sharing.

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Consequences of Violations

Violations of the device and network policy may trigger an account review and could result in account termination.

If no trades are executed for 21 consecutive days, the account is considered inactive, breached, and closed.

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Applicable Accounts

▫️ Futures Prime: Challenge and Earning phases.

▫️ Futures Instant: Instant Earning accounts.

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How Inactivity Is Calculated

The inactivity period begins immediately after the account is successfully purchased or created.

At least one trade must be executed to reset the inactivity period.

Pending orders that remain unexecuted do not count as trading activity.

Simply holding an open position without executing a new trade does not reset the inactivity period.

An account is considered breached and closed if no trades are executed within the applicable inactivity period.

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Inactivity Limits

▫️ Futures Prime:
21 consecutive days during both the Challenge and Earning phases.

▫️ Futures Instant:
14 consecutive days during the Instant Earning Phase.

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How Inactivity Is Calculated

The inactivity period begins immediately after the account is successfully purchased or created.

An actual trade must be executed to reset the inactivity period.

Unexecuted pending orders do not count as trading activity.

Holding an open position without executing a new trade does not reset the inactivity period.

1. Futures Prime

The Reset feature allows traders to restart a Futures Challenge without purchasing an entirely new Challenge at full price.

A Reset can be used in the following cases:

▫️ Account Breach:
When a Challenge rule is violated and the account becomes breached.

▫️ Unfavorable Start:
When a trader wishes to restore the account to its original balance and restart trading.

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What Happens After a Reset?

The account balance returns to its original starting balance.

Example:
A $100,000 account is restored to its original $100,000 balance.

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Does Reset Restart the Challenge Duration?

No. A Reset does not renew the Challenge duration. The remaining days are preserved.

Example:
If 10 days remain when the Reset is purchased, the account starts again with its original balance, but only 10 days remain to complete the Challenge.

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How Many Resets Are Allowed?

Traders may purchase unlimited Resets, provided at least one day remains in the Challenge.

Resets are not available after the Challenge expires or for Earning Accounts.

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How to Purchase a Reset

The Reset option is available in the Client Area, under Accounts, next to each eligible Futures Challenge account.

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Activation Fee

New Futures Prime accounts purchased on or after March 26, 2026 do not require an activation fee when the Challenge is passed without a breach.

Accounts that have been breached and subsequently reset are subject to an Activation Fee before entering the Earning Phase.

Older accounts purchased before this date are also subject to activation fees.

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2. Futures Instant

Reset and Extend are not available for Futures Instant accounts.

If an account is breached, the trader receives a 10% discount towards purchasing a new Futures Instant account of the same size.

▫️ Discount validity: 10 days.

▫️ The discount code is sent by email.

▫️ The code also appears in the Client Area, with a countdown showing the remaining validity period.

This discount applies to a new account purchase. It does not restore the previously breached account.

What Is the Extend Option?

Extend is a paid option that allows traders to add 30 calendar days to their existing Futures Prime Challenge without losing their current progress.

Traders continue with the same account and existing trading balance while receiving additional time to reach the Challenge profit target.

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When Is Extend Available?

Extend is available during the Futures Prime Challenge Phase.

The account must remain active and have more than one trading day remaining before the Challenge expires.

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How Does Extend Work?

Purchasing Extend adds 30 calendar days to the remaining Challenge duration.

Example:
If 5 days remain, purchasing Extend increases the remaining duration to 35 days.

The account retains its current balance, generated profits, and trading progress without returning to the initial balance.

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How to Purchase Extend

The extension can be purchased through the Client Area using the Extend option next to an eligible Challenge account.

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Difference Between Extend and Reset

▫️ Extend:
Adds 30 calendar days while preserving the current account balance and trading progress.

▫️ Reset:
Restores the account to its initial balance without adding extra Challenge days.

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Applicable Accounts

▫️ Futures Prime: Available during the Challenge Phase only.

▫️ Futures Instant: Extend is not available.

▫️ Earning Accounts: Extend is not available.

Prohibited Practices on Futures Accounts

The Trading Pit allows traders to use realistic trading strategies supported by responsible risk management, provided they do not exploit the platform, execution systems, or manipulate trading results.

These rules cover Futures Prime and Futures Instant, with certain program-specific differences.

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1. System and Pricing Exploitation

▫️ Exploiting pricing errors or incorrect market quotes.

▫️ Taking advantage of delayed price updates or market data.

▫️ Using external or delayed price feeds to exploit discrepancies.

▫️ Using technologies that interfere with the platform or company systems.

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2. Account Manipulation and Coordination

▫️ Opening opposite positions across different accounts to manipulate trading results.

▫️ Coordinating with other traders to execute prohibited shared strategies.

▫️ Copying trades or signals from other traders or accounts not owned by the trader.

▫️ Copy trading between Challenge and Earning accounts under Futures Prime.

Permitted Copy Trading

▫️ Futures Prime: Up to 5 Challenge accounts or 5 Earning accounts, provided they belong to the same trader.

▫️ Futures Instant: Copy trading is permitted between two accounts owned by the same trader.

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3. Hedging and Arbitrage

▫️ Using prohibited Latency Arbitrage, Reverse Arbitrage, or Hedging Arbitrage.

▫️ Exploiting pricing differences between the platform and other markets or data feeds.

▫️ Holding simultaneous BUY and SELL positions on the same instrument within a single account.

▫️ Opening opposite positions across different accounts or correlated contracts, such as NQ and MNQ.

Opposite-position hedging is prohibited on both Futures Prime and Futures Instant accounts.

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4. High-Speed Trading

▫️ High-Frequency Trading (HFT).

▫️ Executing excessive numbers of trades within extremely short periods to exploit execution speed or data delays.

▫️ Prohibited Micro / Tick Scalping strategies that rely on opening and closing positions within seconds to capture very small price movements.

Regular scalping is allowed, provided it does not exploit execution mechanics or pricing systems.

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5. Gap Trading

Opening positions with the intention of profiting from expected price gaps when markets reopen is prohibited.

This includes opening trades within two hours before market close when the market is scheduled to remain closed for two hours or more, with the intention of exploiting the expected reopening gap.

Exploiting expected price gaps associated with major economic events or news is also prohibited.

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6. High-Risk Trading Strategies

▫️ Using Grid Trading strategies.

▫️ Using Martingale strategies.

▫️ Risking a disproportionate portion of the account on a single position.

▫️ Excessive market exposure (Overexposure).

▫️ Using excessive leverage or contract sizes.

▫️ Relying on unrealistic one-sided positions without responsible risk management.

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7. Inconsistent Trading Sizes

▫️ Making substantial and unjustified changes in contract sizes compared with normal trading patterns.

▫️ Using large position sizes for primary trades, then artificially reducing sizes to satisfy the minimum trading days requirement.

▫️ Executing an unreasonable number of contracts or trades within a single trading day.

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8. Automated Trading and EAs

Automated trading systems are permitted when they comply with company rules.

They must not be used for:

▫️ Copying other traders' signals or trades.

▫️ Prohibited Micro / Tick Scalping or HFT strategies.

▫️ Prohibited arbitrage strategies.

▫️ Grid or Martingale strategies.

▫️ Using Emulators to exploit execution systems.

▫️ Running shared automated systems across different traders to produce identical trading results.

▫️ Using artificial intelligence or automation to manipulate the platform or bypass monitoring systems.

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9. News Trading

News trading is permitted under both Futures programs:

▫️ Futures Prime: Allowed during both the Challenge and Earning phases.

▫️ Futures Instant: Allowed without a restricted time window before or after news releases.

Exploiting market gaps or other prohibited trading practices remains forbidden during news events.

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10. Unrealistic Trading and Gambling

▫️ Random or impulsive trading without a structured risk management strategy.

▫️ Concentrating excessive risk on a single position or a small number of trades.

▫️ Using trading methods intended to manipulate Challenge requirements.

▫️ Futures Prime: Achieving the entire Challenge profit target through a single trade is prohibited.

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Potential Consequences of Violations

- Exclusion of affected trades from trading results.
- Denial of upgrades to the Earning Phase.
- Adjustments to risk parameters or reward eligibility.
- Account termination following confirmed violations.
- Restriction or permanent suspension from company services for repeated violations after a warning.
- Non-refundable fees where applicable under company policy.

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Summary

Trading strategies must reflect realistic execution and responsible risk management without exploiting pricing, execution systems, or manipulating account results.