At FundedNext Futures, we seek traders who demonstrate discipline, consistency, and the ability to trade sustainably over the long term. Our goal is to provide traders with the opportunity to trade within the Challenge Accounts or FundedNext Accounts, where they can showcase a structured approach, manage risk effectively, and maintain trading integrity. We do not support those who attempt to exploit the simulated environment or engage in unsustainable trading practices.
The Challenge Accounts and FundedNext Accounts operate in a simulated market. Certain trading strategies may take advantage of these simulated conditions but fail to perform in real-market scenarios. Any such prohibited practices, regardless of the stage, will result in account suspension and disqualification from further participation.
FundedNext Futures is designed for traders seeking a long-term trading relationship, not short-term exploitation. If you aim to build a sustainable trading career, we encourage you to trade responsibly, follow risk management principles, and refine a strategy that aligns with real-world market conditions.
To ensure a fair, transparent, and ethical trading environment, we strictly prohibit the following activities:
Exploiting Platform Errors
Exploiting Platform Errors in Futures Trading refers to taking advantage of system glitches, price discrepancies, or execution delays to secure risk-free profits. This involves manipulating flaws in the trading platform, such as delayed price updates or technical errors, to execute trades at prices that do not reflect real-time market conditions.
Why It Is Prohibited
This practice disrupts fair trading and provides an unfair advantage over traders following ethical practices. When an error occurs, such as incorrect pricing due to lagging data feeds, some traders exploit this flaw to enter or exit trades at outdated or incorrect prices. Since these prices are not valid in the live market, such actions create an artificial edge, allowing traders to benefit from system inefficiencies rather than actual market movements.
Account Sharing
Account Sharing occurs when a trader manages multiple accounts or allows another individual to trade on their behalf. This practice is strictly prohibited as it disrupts fair competition and undermines the integrity of both the Challenge Account and the FundedNext Account.
Why It Is Prohibited
Trading is meant to evaluate an individual’s skill and decision-making ability. When traders engage in account sharing, it compromises integrity, making it difficult to distinguish genuinely skilled traders from those relying on external support. This creates an unfair advantage and undermines transparency in the trading environment.
Account Rolling
Account Rolling is a high-risk practice where multiple Challenge Accounts are purchased with intention to quick succession of funded phase, with some accounts being intentionally sacrificed while focusing on passing others. This approach relies on probability rather than skill, disregarding proper risk management and market analysis. It resembles gambling more than trading, as success depends on sheer luck rather than a structured strategy.
Why It Is Prohibited:
FundedNext Futures is committed to supporting traders who demonstrate consistency, discipline, and long-term profitability. Account rolling undermines the integrity of the evaluation process by bypassing the core principles of responsible trading. Challenge Phase is designed to assess a trader’s ability to manage risk effectively—not to test how many accounts can be rolled through aggressive, unsustainable tactics. Traders who engage in account rolling fail to showcase real trading proficiency, making it an unfair and unethical practice that goes against the foundation of a professional trading environment.
To maintain fairness and transparency, account rolling is actively monitored. Violations may result in restrictions on purchasing new accounts or adjustments to the lifetime allocation limit. These measures ensure that only traders who genuinely develop and apply sound, sustainable trading strategies can progress, reinforcing a platform built on skill, discipline, and long-term success.
Multi-Order Spam and Coordinated Trading Exploits
Multi-Order Spam and Coordinated Trading Exploits involve placing and canceling numerous orders in the Depth of Market (DOM) to manipulate market activity or collaborating with others to artificially influence order flow. These actions create misleading signals and distort genuine supply and demand dynamics, disrupting market integrity and fairness.
Why It Is Prohibited
Multi-order placements in the DOM (spam) and coordinated trading manipulation distort market conditions and misrepresent true supply and demand. Since simulation trading replicates real-market conditions, such activities mislead other traders by creating fake market participation and deceptive order flow. At FundedNext Futures, these practices compromise fairness, disrupt evaluations, and fail to assess traders' ability to perform in live markets. Enforcing these rules ensures a realistic, ethical, and transparent trading environment.
Example
A trader places hundreds of fake Bid/Ask Orders (Limit Orders) in the DOM, creating false buying interest. Other traders react, pushing the price higher, at which point the trader cancels their buy orders and sells at the inflated price. In a simulation environment, this manipulates market dynamics, misleads participants, and undermines the evaluation process by distorting real trading behavior.
Abusing Slow Data Feed
Abusing Slow Data Feed occurs when traders exploit delayed price updates to execute trades at outdated prices, gaining an unfair advantage over those relying on real-time data. This practice disrupts fair competition and compromises the integrity of the trading environment.
Why It Is Prohibited
A slow data feed can cause price updates to lag behind actual market conditions. Some traders take advantage of this delay by comparing prices across multiple platforms and entering trades based on outdated information before their trading platform updates. This can lead to unfair trade executions and manipulative trading behavior, distorting the market evaluation process.
Example
A trader notices that their platform is displaying a stock price that is $1 lower than the actual market price due to a delayed data feed. They quickly place a buy order at the incorrect price, and once the platform updates, they sell at the corrected price for a guaranteed profit, exploiting the system rather than relying on real trading skills.
Account Flipping and Inconsistent Contract Execution
Account Flipping and Inconsistent Contract Execution involve using high margin to rapidly grow or blow up accounts through reckless, oversized positions. This high-risk approach lacks strategy and discipline, making it unsustainable and prone to failure.
Why It Is Prohibited
Some traders attempt to quickly multiply their account balance by taking extremely high-risk positions, using maximum leverage for fast gains. If successful, they withdraw profits and repeat the process with a new account. If unsuccessful, they abandon the account and start over, avoiding the consequences of poor risk management. This method undermines long-term consistency and goes against responsible trading principles.
Example
A trader qualifies for a FundedNext Account and immediately places an all-in trade, risking the entire account balance on one position. If the trade is successful, they withdraw profits. If it fails, they open another account and repeat the process, making no effort to refine their trading strategy or follow sustainable risk management practices.
Copy & Group Trading Policy
What Is Copy and Group Trading?
Copy Trading refers to replicating trades from another trader or using signal services to execute trades.
Group Trading occurs when multiple traders collaborate—often in real-time—to achieve specific Rewards by executing similar trades simultaneously.
Why Is It (Generally) Prohibited?
At FundedNext Futures, we evaluate each trader based on their individual trading ability, focusing on independent decision-making, proper risk management, and long-term consistency.
Relying on others—either through signal services or coordination with other traders—misrepresents a trader’s true capabilities and undermines fair competition. That’s why unauthorized Copy and Group Trading is strictly prohibited.
What Is Allowed?
FundedNext supports flexibility for traders who manage their own accounts. The following forms of copy trading are permitted:
Copy trading within FundedNext is allowed. Traders can freely copy trades between their own FundedNext accounts.
Copy trading between FundedNext and other prop firms is allowed, if the trader owns all accounts involved. FundedNext may request verification that all accounts involved are registered under the exact same name as per FundedNext records; any variation in spelling or identity will not be accepted.
Use of any copy trading tools is allowed, including:
Tradovate’s built-in copy trading feature
NinjaTrader modules like Replikanto
Any third-party platforms, as long as they are used for copying one’s own trades only
What They Cannot Do?
To preserve the integrity of our evaluation process, the following actions are strictly prohibited:
Traders cannot group trade or coordinate trades with other traders, whether inside or outside FundedNext.
Traders cannot subscribe to any trading signal services or use external signals to guide their trading decisions.
Traders are not allowed to copy trades from another person’s account within FundedNext, even through automated tools or trade copiers.
Example of Prohibited Behavior
A trader joins a signal group where a provider sends trade instructions. Instead of performing independent analysis, the trader blindly copies those trades to pass the Challenge. This results in unearned success based on someone else’s skill, and violates our evaluation principles.
Micro-Scalping
Micro-scalping is defined as the practice of opening and closing trades within seconds to repeatedly capitalize on small price fluctuations. While FundedNext does not breach or terminate your account solely for this activity, we do have a clear and balanced policy to address it, which you can review here.
Spoofing Strategies
Spoofing is a market manipulation technique where a trader places large fake orders (pending orders) to create a false impression of supply or demand, influencing other traders' decisions. These fake orders are canceled before execution, allowing the trader to take advantage of price movements.
Why It Is Prohibited
Spoofing is not allowed because it misleads traders by showing fake demand or supply, making them take trades based on false information. This kind of market manipulation creates an unfair trading environment in the live phase and goes against our rules.
Example
A trader wants to place a buy order. But the price was higher than expected, and they placed multiple large sell orders to make it look like strong selling pressure was building up. This tricks other traders into thinking the price might drop, encouraging them to sell. Once the trader gets a favorable price, the trader quickly cancels all the fake sell orders, and executes a buy order, having manipulated the market to their advantage.
Order Book Shaping/Layering Strategies
Layering occurs when a trader places multiple buy or sell orders at different price levels to create a false sense of market depth. These orders are not meant to be executed but are intended to mislead other traders into making decisions based on manipulated market conditions.
Why It Is Prohibited
Layering is prohibited because it gives a false impression of liquidity, tricking traders into making moves based on fake market orders. It disrupts fair trading and goes against FundedNext's principles.
Example
A trader places several buy orders at different price levels, making it seem like there is strong buying interest. Other traders see this and start buying as well. Once the price goes up, the trader cancels all the fake orders and sells at a higher price.
Bracket Strategies
Bracket trading is a strategy where traders set predefined buy & sell (limit/stop orders) to take advantage of any sided market movement, and also set profit-taking and stop-loss levels to manage risk and lock in gains automatically. Exploiting the lack of slippage or using tight brackets to benefit from favorable trade executions is prohibited. Such practices are not allowed under our trading policies.
Why It Is Prohibited
Exploiting no slippage and using tight bracket orders is prohibited and considered as No-Brainer trading strategy because it gives traders an unfair advantage. When the market moves quickly, especially in instruments like the NQ, placing orders with minimal price differences can result in favorable executions that don't reflect in live market conditions or not considered as true trading intelligence.
Example
Imagine a trader sets a buy stop at 12,900 and a sell stop at 12,850 for Nasdaq futures (NQ), with take-profit levels at 12,930 and 12,820. If the price spikes upward and the buy order triggers, hitting the take-profit at 12,930 without any slippage, the trader profits from a small, atypical price move. This is prohibited because it exploits live trading conditions and it doesn't reflect the trading intelligence, and gives the trader an unfair advantage.
Grid Trading
Grid Trading in the Futures market involves placing multiple long and short orders at predefined price levels to capitalize on market fluctuations. This strategy aims to capture small price movements within a set range, allowing traders to profit from volatility without relying on market direction. However, due to frequent order placements, Grid Trading can create excessive market activity and disrupt fair trading conditions.
Why It Is Prohibited
Grid trading is prohibited because it can lead to market manipulation and create artificial trading activity. This strategy also significantly increases risk, as a strong market movement in one direction can trigger multiple consecutive losses. Additionally, grid trading is not sustainable in highly volatile or trending markets, where rapid price swings can lead to margin calls and substantial losses.FundedNext Futures prioritizes fair trading practices and risk-conscious strategies, which is why grid trading is not allowed.
Example
A trader places multiple buy orders at $100, $105, and $110 and sell orders at $115, $120, and $125. If the market moves between these levels, the trader profits. However, if the market drops sharply below $100, all buy orders lose value at once, leading to significant losses. This demonstrates the high-risk exposure of grid trading and why it is not permitted.
Wash Trading
Wash Trading in Futures occurs when a trader places bids and asks simultaneously or in quick succession to create artificial market activity without taking on actual market risk. This practice is used to mislead other traders, manipulate prices, or inflate trading volume without genuine market intent.
Why It Is Prohibited
Wash trading distorts market transparency by artificially inflating trading volume and misleading traders into believing there is genuine interest in an asset. This manipulates price movement and disrupts fair market conditions. FundedNext prohibits wash trading to maintain a transparent and trustworthy trading environment, where traders compete based on genuine market conditions rather than artificial activity.
Example
A trader continuously buys and sells the same futures contract at nearly identical prices, generating a high number of trades without actually changing their market position. This artificially boosts the asset’s trading volume, making it seem more active than it truly is. As a result, other traders may believe there is a strong interest in the asset when, in reality, the activity is fabricated.
Latency Arbitrage
Latency Arbitrage is a high-risk trading strategy that exploits price delays between platforms, relying on speed advantages rather than market analysis. This strategy takes advantage of discrepancies in market data updates, allowing traders to enter or exit positions before others react.
Why It Is Prohibited
A trader using a faster price feed can enter trades before the slower feed updates, gaining an unfair advantage by accessing price movements ahead of other market participants. This distorts fair pricing and disrupts trading integrity. Since latency arbitrage does not reflect actual trading skills and relies on exploiting system inefficiencies, FundedNext Futures prohibits this practice to ensure a level playing field.
Example
A trader notices that a price update on one platform is delayed by twenty milli-seconds. They quickly place a trade before the lagging platform adjusts, securing a better price than traders using standard feeds. This creates an unfair advantage and manipulates pricing dynamics.
Reverse Hedge
Reverse Hedging is a manipulative strategy where a trader opens opposite positions in different accounts to artificially hedge risk, creating an illusion of controlled exposure while exploiting Reward structures.
Why It Is Prohibited
Traders engaging in reverse hedging ensure that one account profits while the other incurs a loss, which misrepresents genuine trading performance. This deceptive approach undermines trading evaluations and violates FundedNext Futures principles of fair competition. To prevent manipulation, this practice is strictly prohibited.
Example
A trader opens a buy position in one FundedNext Account and simultaneously opens a sell position in another. Regardless of market movement, one account will always show a profit while the other will show a loss, creating a misleading impression of success.
Hedging with Correlated Instruments
Hedging with Correlated Instruments involves taking opposite positions in assets that move similarly, reducing actual market exposure while manipulating trading evaluations.
Why It Is Prohibited
Traders using this method neutralize risk artificially without engaging in true market exposure. This strategy distorts genuine trading performance, allowing traders to exploit Reward structures unfairly. FundedNext Futures prohibits this to maintain an honest and skill-based evaluation process.
Example
A trader buys S&P 500 futures while simultaneously shorting the YM Futures. Since both indices move in sync, the positions cancel out risk, preventing an accurate assessment of trading ability.
Gapped or Illiquid Market Trading
Gapped or Illiquid Market Trading involves placing trades during low liquidity periods or exploiting large price gaps to gain an unfair advantage. This method relies on market inefficiencies rather than strategic trading skills.
Why It Is Prohibited
Traders may attempt to place orders in gapped or illiquid market conditions, seeking to benefit from price inefficiencies. However, this exposes them to unpredictable execution, high slippage, and potential market manipulation. Trading in low-liquidity environments or before major market events can distort fair price discovery and disrupt market stability.
Example
A trader places a buy limit order right at time of new week open anticipating a price surge, got filled but the market opened after a large gap and the fill index price is not relevant to the market index price. However, if the market moves against them, they face unexpected slippage and losses, demonstrating the high-risk nature of this approach.
2% Price Limit
What is Price Limit?
A price limit is the maximum price range permitted for a futures contract during a trading session. These limits are imposed by the CME to promote safer trading and reduce excessive volatility. When the market reaches this limit, different outcomes may occur, including temporary trading halts, continuation under limit conditions, or a complete stop in trading for the rest of the session, depending on the product and regulatory guidelines.
Why Trading Within the 2% Price Limit Is Prohibited?
Trading within 2% of the CME price limit creates higher risk and potential liquidity issues, as market conditions become unstable near these thresholds. If the price approaches the limit, execution becomes unpredictable, and price gaps may lead to forced liquidations, slippage, and increased account drawdowns. To ensure responsible risk management and market stability, trading in this zone is strictly prohibited, and violations may result in account suspension or restrictions. Click here to know more...