Help CenterThese are the general prohibited trading methods that apply to the 2x Evaluation and No Evaluation Challenges. However, the 1X Evaluation has additional specific conditions, including but not limited to rules regarding News Trading and holding trades over the weekend. For more detailed information on these specific conditions, please refer to the dedicated section "What is the 1X Evaluation Challenge" for the 1X Evaluation rules.
We believe in fostering individual trading skills and promoting transparency within our community, encouraging traders to showcase their skills, discipline and expertise.
In line with this commitments we've established guidelines to ensure a safe and transparent trading environment while protecting capital. These guidelines promote responsible trading and mitigate risks associated with certain strategies.
Prohibited methods include but may not be limited to Holding Shares during Earnings, Arbitrage, System Exploits, Hedging, High-Frequency Trading (HFT), Tick Scalping, Sharing accounts, ALL in 1 Bet, Martingale, Automated Trading Algorithms, Software, Expert Advisors (EAs), or Bots, and Copy Trading & Reverse Copy Trading. Inadequate Risk Management, Exploitation of Statistical Vulnerabilities, and Gambling-like behaviour.
Prohibited Practices
Holding Shares during Earnings
Holding a Single Share Equity CFD position into earnings release a Single Share Equity CFD position into an earnings release pertaining to that underlying equity. To avoid being in breach of this rule, you must close all such Single Share Equity CFD positions by 3:50 pm Eastern Time on the day of the release, if an aftermarket release, or on the preceding day, if a before market open release. Violation of this rule will constitute an immediate, hard breach of your account and any gain or loss on said position will be removed from any calculations
Arbitrage and Latency
Attempting to exploit any system bugs, perform any latency arbitrage (trades using an external or slow data feed) or any other form of arbitrage in your account with another account with the Company or any third-party company, as determined by the Company in its sole and absolute discretion. Arbitrage traders exploit price differences, potentially causing prices to stray from their fundamental values and introducing discrepancies in market pricing. One method involves engaging in statistical arbitrage, where a trader concurrently buys and sells correlated instruments, leveraging historical price patterns to identify opportunities.
System Exploits
The use of unfair advantages, such as taking advantage of platform or data freezing due to errors on demo servers, is strictly forbidden. This policy ensures fairness among all traders and prevents any deceptive practices. Traders caught engaging in such behavior will undergo investigation, and appropriate actions, including potential access removal from our demo servers, may be taken. Should traders encounter server issues, they are urged to promptly notify Trading Cult's support team.
Hedging
Execute, either independently or in collaboration with any other parties, including across interconnected accounts or accounts held with different entities, transactions, or combinations of transactions with the intent of manipulating trading activities. This could involve actions such as simultaneously initiating opposing positions. Hedging is not allowed between two different accounts. It is allowed only on the same account belonging to one trader.
High-Frequency Trading (HFT) and Tick Scalping
High-Frequency Trading represents a trading approach defined by the deployment of advanced computer algorithms and high-speed communication networks to conduct a large volume of trades within milliseconds. This method targets exploiting minute price changes and capitalizing on market inefficiencies. Although HFT offers the allure of swift profit generation, it carries substantial risks and can negatively impact market dynamics. The rapid execution of a substantial number of trades within milliseconds by HFT traders can distort perceptions of market activity, potentially influencing the decisions of other participants and resulting in market manipulation. The heightened trading volumes generated by high-frequency trading have the potential to disrupt market equilibrium. The swift entry and exit of orders can induce volatility, causing unpredictable price swings and heightened market ambiguity, thereby complicating the decision-making process for other traders. Tick scalping involves traders aiming to profit from small price fluctuations through rapid trade execution. However, Trading Cult has imposed limitations on tick scalping due to its potential for market manipulation and disruptive trading practices.
Sharing your account
Account sharing refers to the unauthorized practice of distributing or selling Trading Cult accounts to other individuals or entities. This behavior violates Trading Cult's Terms and Conditions and is strictly prohibited. A zero-tolerance approach is maintained towards account sharing due to various reasons related to security, fairness, and compliance.
ALL in 1 Bet
It is against the intended spirit of trading and fairness to reach the profit target through a single trade. We expect our traders to demonstrate consistent trading behavior, adhering to proper Risk Management practices, and refraining from attempting to achieve the target through one significant, all in high-risk trade.
Martingale
Martingale involves opening multiple positions on a particular instrument in the same direction when the initial position opened on that instrument is experiencing a drawdown. This technique is considered Martingale if any of the following conditions are met:
- Any subsequent positions are opened at a multiplier greater than 1x.
- The subsequent positions are opened with varying volumes but at similar prices and times. Consequently, the combined volume of these positions exceeds 1x of the original position.
Copy Trading & Reverse Copy Trading
Trading services such as copy trading, account management, and "pass my challenge" are strictly prohibited. Traders are expected to operate independently. Trading Cult employs an automated flagging system to detect significant similarities between trades made by different accounts, including factors like opening and closing prices, lot sizes, and symbols. If your account triggers a flag, it will undergo manual review.
Can automated trading algorithms, software, EA’s or bots be used?
TradingCult encourages traders to showcase their skills and expertise without relying on automated trading algorithms, software, Expert Advisors (EAs), or bots. Our goal is to evaluate traders based on their individual abilities rather than the use of automated tools. To ensure a fair and transparent assessment of each trader's performance, the use of such automated systems is prohibited. Any violation of this policy will result in a hard breach and the subsequent failure of the challenge.
Is news trading permitted?
Traders must refrain from opening any trades within 1 minute prior to or after major news announcements. To clarify, this includes executing pending orders (such as stop loss or take profit) or market execution. However, you may hold trades that were opened more than 1 minute before the restricted news event. Please note that if your stop loss or take profit is triggered during the restricted time window this will not be a violation. Failing to comply with these restrictions may result in a hard breach and subsequent failing of a challenge.
Major news events are categorized in our Economic Calendar as High Importance and include but are not limited to:
- Consumer Price Index (CPI)
- Producer Price Index (PPI)
- Gross Domestic Product (GDP) releases
- Unemployment Rate announcements
- Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP)
- Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings and statements
- Central bank interest rate decisions (e.g., Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of England, etc.)
- Retail Sales reports
- Consumer Confidence Index (CCI)
- Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI)
You can find the Economic Calendar here
Prohibition of High-Risk, Gambling, and Exploitative Trading Practices
Engaging in trading strategies that involve inappropriate risk management, exploit statistical vulnerabilities, or exhibit gambling-like behaviour to gain an unfair advantage is strictly prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Excessive Risk-Taking: Trading patterns involving substantial exposure to risk.
- "All-In" Trading: Committing a substantial portion of available capital or margin to a single trade.
- Improper Use of Leverage: Risking a significant portion of the account in one trade or across multiple one-directional trades or positions.
- Inconsistent Strategies: Trading without a consistent approach, either within a single account or across multiple accounts/challenges.
- Account Rolling: Continuously purchasing multiple evaluation challenges and recklessly trading them undermines the integrity of your strategy.
Trading behaviours that involve high margin utilisation, binary event trading (such as consistently placing trades just before major economic news releases), or excessive leverage are not allowed. Such practices undermine sound risk management principles and compromise the integrity of responsible trading.
Traders are expected to adhere to disciplined, well-managed strategies in line with established risk management standards. If found engaging in these prohibited practices, the Company reserves the right to close the account immediately, with potential forfeiture of any fees owed to the trader, following a thorough review, at the Company's sole discretion.