News, EAs, copy trading, hedging: what prop firms allow

The profiles put every rule into one of three levels: allowed, restricted, forbidden. "Restricted" usually means it depends on the phase, the instrument or the time of day. A "–" means PropCrab has not documented the value yet, not "allowed". The note behind each value is in the profile, for example at FTMO or Tradeify.

Forex and CFD

Futures

The level alone is never enough. At The5ers it depends on the programme: news on High Stakes restricted^[34], on Hyper Growth allowed^[36]. At FTMO the news restriction applies on the "FTMO Account", not in the Challenge and Verification^[1].

Firms handle news in three ways: a blackout window, a deduction of the profit made in the window, or nothing at all. The blackout windows as the firms describe them:

MyFundedFutures gives its reason: news trading is not simulated 1:1 with live markets^[26].

Deduction instead of a ban. Goat Funded Trader caps, in the evaluation and on the "funded" account, the profit per trade opened or closed from 5 minutes before to 5 minutes after a high-impact release at 1% of the initial balance; the excess is removed, without a breach^[13]. FundingPips may deduct Master Account profits on 1 Step Flex, 2 Step Standard, 2 Step Flex and 2 Step Pro from the window of 5 minutes before to 5 minutes after, unless the trade was opened 5 hours or more before. If the deduction takes the account below a loss limit, that is on the trader^[22]. Maven caps profit per release at 0.50% of the balance on the 2 Step OMO, in the "funded" stage only^[23]. On the "funded" account of Stellar 1-Step, 2-Step and Lite, FundedNext counts only 40% of the profit from trades executed from 5 minutes before to 5 minutes after a listed high-impact release, pending orders, stop loss and take profit included; losses count in full, and the rule does not apply in the challenge^[12]. The plan table only says "News Trading Profit 40%"^[10].

Free does not mean anything goes. Tradeify has no news rule^[28]. Topstep forbids purposefully trading the full maximum position size into a scheduled major news event^[24]. FTMO allows news in the Challenge and Verification as long as you avoid its forbidden practices^[1]; these include "gap trading", for example opening trades when major news is scheduled^[2]. Pending orders on both sides of the price just before a release are forbidden by The5ers and Audacity^[7][18]; MyFundedFutures names straddles and strangles^[26].

Three details decide:

• The calendar: FTMO marks restricted events in its own economic calendar^[1], FundingPips in its dashboard^[22]; The5ers, Alpha Futures and Maven use the red folder on Forex Factory^[5][27][23], Goat Funded Trader the one on Forex Factory or Myfxbook^[13]. Audacity recommends FXStreet^[17].
• Stop loss and take profit: at FTMO they count^[1]. At Audacity a take profit that triggers 1 minute after the release is a violation, even if the trade was opened 4 hours earlier^[17]. The5ers applies its rule to new positions only^[5].
• Holding: FTMO, The5ers, Alpha Futures and FundedNext let you hold open positions through the release^{[1][5][27][12]}. On MyFundedFutures' "Rapid Sim Funded" and "Pro Sim Funded" accounts you must be flat before Tier 1 news: for news at 8:30, by 8:28 at the latest^[26].

Most firms in this guide allow EAs only on conditions. The most common: the code has to be yours.

• Own code only: Goat Funded Trader allows only self-developed EAs, may ask for the source code and, since 6 October 2026, forbids VPNs and VPSs while trading^[13]. At Audacity even an EA a freelancer coded to your specification counts as third-party^[18]. City Traders Imperium requires your own code on 2-Step, Instant and Direct Funding; on the 1-Step third-party EAs are allowed, but a widely used EA can count as coordinated trading^[14].
• Allowed, with limits: FTMO allows EAs; its servers accept at most 200 orders at a time and 2,000 positions a day. With a third-party EA, others may run exactly the same strategy, and you risk being denied the FTMO Account if the maximum allocation is exceeded^[3]. Blue Guardian allows EAs, and VPNs and VPSs too, as long as you do not use them to get round its copy, group or signal trading rules; every trade has a minimum holding time of 2 minutes^[19]. Topstep allows automated strategies on conditions, with no exceptions for malfunctions^[25].
• Approval needed: The5ers' FAQ allows EAs without signal copying, tick scalping, latency, reverse or hedge arbitrage, HFT and emulators; you must own the source code^[6]. Its terms also require written approval before use^[7]. At FundedNext the platforms page says in one place that automated trading is only permitted on MetaTrader, for an EA usage fee; the FAQ on the same page says cBots on cTrader and NinjaScript on NinjaTrader are supported too^[11]. The challenge terms forbid bots the provider has not expressly authorised^[9].
• Own bot, with proof: Tradeify requires that only you own and use the bot, not at other firms and without HFT, and wants a live video of you enabling the code on your own PC^[28].
• Not at all: Take Profit Trader on the PRO account^[30], Maven per its FAQ on all platforms^[23]; the Maven profile does not record this yet.

Copying other people's signals is forbidden at most firms here. Between your own accounts the rules differ:

FTMO counts identical or copied trades across accounts, signal groups included, towards the maximum allocation of USD 400,000 per trader or strategy (before scaling); above it, FTMO may suspend the accounts^[4]. Topstep allows a trade copier across several accounts^[25]. The GOAT Trade Copier costs USD 2 per account per month, the lead account included^[13].

The same chain can be fine at one firm and a breach at another: CTI allows copying from CTI to an account at another prop firm^[15]; if that account is at Goat Funded Trader, its ban on external sources applies^[13]. At The5ers the terms forbid "copy trading with other traders or accounts", while the Hyper Growth FAQ allows your own accounts^[7][8]. Get that confirmed in writing.

Hedging here means being long and short at the same time in the same or a closely related instrument.

• In one account: FTMO exempts opposite positions on a single account from its manipulation rule^[2]; FundedNext permits them as far as the programme rules allow (clause 8.8)^[9]. Goat Funded Trader, Audacity, Tradeify and Take Profit Trader forbid them even there^{[13][18][29][30]}, City Traders Imperium in every programme^[16].
• Across accounts: forbidden at FTMO (for manipulative purposes), FundedNext (where it undermines the evaluation), Goat Funded Trader, City Traders Imperium, Audacity and Tradeify^{[2][9][13][16][18][29]}.
• Across firms: FTMO names accounts held with other providers, FundedNext and Goat Funded Trader name accounts at other firms; Goat Funded Trader breaches the account immediately and bans permanently for it^[2][9][13].

Related instruments count too: City Traders Imperium names EURUSD against DXY and US30 against SPX500^[16], Tradeify whole product groups such as ES against NQ^[29]. Tradeify's automated check breaches an account when the opposite position lasts longer than 10 seconds and makes more than USD 150 profit; Tradeify says the 10 seconds are there for mistakes, not as an allowance. Its risk team reviews hedging across accounts and across related products separately^[29]. FTMO also forbids hedging that spreads profit artificially across days to get round the Best Day Rule or the consistency rule^[2].

• Latency arbitrage: Audacity describes it as exploiting the gap between execution and the update of the price feed, when the feed lags a few hundred milliseconds^[18]. FundedNext forbids "latency trading, latency arbitrage, quote stuffing, feed arbitrage" (clause 8.2)^[9], FTMO exploiting delayed prices or a slow feed^[2]. City Traders Imperium forbids all forms of arbitrage^[14].
• Tick scalping and HFT: Audacity means trades held from a few seconds up to around two minutes^[18]; The5ers defines HFT by trades that mostly last a few seconds or less^[7]. Minimum holding rules fit in here: at Maven at least 50% of trades must stay open for 60 seconds^[23]; at Tradeify a payout on a "funded" account needs over 50% of trades and of profit from trades longer than 10 seconds^[28].
• Third-party account management: FTMO forbids letting third parties trade for you^[2]. FundedNext names "passing services" (clause 8.10)^[9], City Traders Imperium challenge pass services^[15], The5ers trading on behalf of others and account sharing^[7]. At Audacity it is enough to give a friend your login, unpaid, so that they run the account^[18].
• Gap trading: Goat Funded Trader reviews trades opened in the last three market hours on Friday and closed in the first three on Monday, and removes the profit from them on "funded" accounts^[13]. FTMO's "gap trading" also covers opening trades two hours or less before a market closes for at least two hours^[2].
• Account stacking: Topstep forbids trading one account aggressively into its loss limit, switching to the next and repeating^[24].

• Profit gone, account stays: The5ers deducts profits from the news window and you absorb the losses^[5]. At Alpha Futures the first violation is a warning, but the trade's profit is void and the payout is denied; any later violation breaches the account^[27].
• Account gone: at Maven a trade in the window during the challenge is a hard breach^[23], at FundingPips purposely trading news leads to account closure^[22], at The5ers an EA from its banned list leads to a ban without a refund^[6].
• Every account: for hedging across accounts Tradeify sets all accounts involved to violation status, with a permanent ban for deliberate or repeated cases^[29]. FTMO's consequences go as far as terminating all agreements^[2].
• Money on top: FundedNext's challenge terms set a contractual penalty of USD 25,000 per breach of its prohibited practices, possibly per trade or per account (clause 9.8)^[9].

1. 1Does the news rule apply during the evaluation or only on the "funded" account?
2. 2Which calendar, which instruments, how long is the window?
3. 3Do stop loss, take profit and partial closes count? At FundingPips and FundedNext a partial close affects the whole order^[22][12].
4. 4EA: must the code be yours, how do you prove it, is a VPS allowed?
5. 5Copy trading and hedging: which direction, which accounts, which instruments?
6. 6Read the list of prohibited practices in full, settle contradictions between FAQ and terms in writing, and save the rules on the day you buy. More in the checklist before you buy.