Instant Funding Trading Rules
Instant Funding applies a range of trading rules covering position sizing, risk exposure, news trading, holding periods, account activity, and prohibited strategies. The exact requirements can vary depending on the program.
Maximum Lot Size & Margin
Each account type has defined position-size limits. The applicable maximum lot sizes are detailed in the official Instant Funding Maximum Lot Sizes guidelines.
Traders must also follow the firm's margin requirements and demonstrate appropriate risk management. The relevant conditions are explained in How Do You Show Good Risk Management?.
Minimum Trade Duration
Trades held for 60 seconds or less are classified as high-frequency trades and are prohibited.
Smart Drawdown
Smart Drawdown applies to Instant Funding Pro, Instant Funding Lite, and Instant Funding Clarity.
The initial drawdown level is set at -10%. Once the account reaches a 5% gain, the drawdown automatically moves to -5%. From that point onward, the -5% threshold remains fixed against the original starting balance, regardless of any additional profits generated.
News Trading
News-trading conditions depend on the account type and whether the account is in its challenge or funded stage.
- One-Phase Pro & One Phase Lite — challenge: No news restrictions.
- IF Micro Pro, IF Starter & IF Evolve: No news restrictions.
- Instant Funding Pro, Instant Funding Lite, One-Phase Pro, One Phase Lite — funded: Trading is prohibited from 4 minutes before until 4 minutes after high-impact news. News trading is available with the appropriate add-on.
- Instant Funding Clarity: High-impact news trading is restricted in the same manner and can be enabled with the add-on.
Weekend Positions
Weekend holding is also determined by the selected program:
- One-Phase Pro & One Phase Lite — challenge: Allowed.
- IF Micro Pro & IF Starter: Allowed.
- Instant Funding Pro, Instant Funding Lite, One-Phase Pro, One Phase Lite — funded: Available with the appropriate add-on.
- Instant Funding Clarity: Available with the add-on.
- IF Evolve: Weekend holding is not permitted.
Account Inactivity
An account will be automatically closed if no trades are placed for 60 days. The 60-day period is measured from either the original account purchase or the most recent trade.
Risk Per Trade Idea
Instant Funding imposes specific limits on the amount of starting capital that can be placed at risk through a single trade idea:
- Instant Funding Pro: Maximum 3% of the starting account balance.
- Instant Funding Lite: Maximum 2%.
- IF Micro Pro & IF Starter: Maximum 1%.
- One-Phase Pro: Maximum 50% of the account's daily drawdown.
Closing and then reopening a position in the same direction and on the same instrument within 10 minutes is treated as part of the same trade idea. It therefore does not reset the applicable risk limit. Exceeding the permitted threshold results in a hard breach.
Clarity Account Drawdown Protection
Clarity accounts have an additional automatic position-closure mechanism. If unrealized losses on open positions exceed the specified percentage of the starting balance, the system closes all positions:
- One-Phase Clarity: 2%
- IF Micro Clarity: 1.5%
- Instant Funding Clarity: 2.5%
The first breach does not immediately terminate the account. Instead, the account moves to a 50% profit split and remains active, effectively providing a second chance. A second breach results in permanent account closure.
Prohibited Trading Practices
Instant Funding prohibits a number of strategies and trading behaviors considered inconsistent with its risk-management requirements.
Latency Arbitrage
Taking advantage of delays in market-data updates to obtain an unfair trading advantage.
Tick Scalping
Attempting to profit from extremely small price movements through very rapid execution.
Account Arbitrage
Using multiple accounts to exploit differences in conditions, bonuses, or risk parameters for an unfair advantage.
Account Churning / Rolling
Opening multiple challenge or funded accounts in rapid succession is prohibited.
High-Frequency Trading (HFT)
Trades held for 60 seconds or less are classified as HFT and are not permitted.
Third-Party EAs
Publicly available third-party Expert Advisors, algorithms, and trading bots cannot be used.
Reverse Trading
Opening opposing positions across multiple accounts on the same asset, such as going long on one account and short on another.
Group Hedging
Coordinating trades with other traders to hedge exposure across different accounts.
One-Sided Bets
Taking excessive directional positions without appropriate analysis or consideration of market conditions.
Grid Trading
Using predetermined price intervals to place repeated buy and sell orders without incorporating broader market analysis.
Overleveraging
Exceeding the permitted lot-size limit for the relevant account through a single trade idea, creating excessive exposure.
Gambling
Placing trades that resemble bets rather than following a defined strategy, including random entries or risking an excessive portion of the account on one idea.
Martingale
Martingale is permitted for all challenges and IF Micro accounts, including the funded stage.
For Instant Funding accounts, traders may add to losing positions, but they must not continuously double their lot size after losses.
Improper Day Padding
Where an account has a minimum trading-day requirement, traders are expected to maintain their normal trading behavior on each qualifying day.
Artificially creating a trading day by placing negligible or meaningless positions is prohibited. This includes:
- Trading substantially smaller lot sizes than normally used.
- Opening low-risk or insignificant trades solely to satisfy a minimum-day requirement.
- Executing trades without genuine strategic intent.
Such activity can be considered inconsistent with the firm's assessment of genuine trading ability.
.webp)
