Upcomers Trading Rules Explained

Understanding the Upcomers trading rules is essential before you purchase a challenge. While Upcomers offers some of the most flexible conditions in the prop firm industry — including news trading and weekend holding — the firm enforces strict risk management and a complete ban on automation. Below is a detailed breakdown of all rules that apply across challenge phases and funded accounts in 2026.

Upcomers Rules at a Glance

Drawdown Rules

Upcomers uses a clear two-tier drawdown structure on most challenges. The daily drawdown limit is typically set at 5% of the initial account balance, calculated from the equity high of the previous trading day. The maximum overall drawdown is usually 10% of the initial balance, applied as a static loss limit that cannot be breached at any point during the challenge or funded phase. Breaching either limit results in immediate account termination, so disciplined risk management is non-negotiable.

Profit Targets

Profit targets vary depending on the challenge type. The 1-Step Thunderbolt requires a single profit target (typically 10%) before moving directly to a funded account. The 2-Step Phoenix uses 8% in Phase 1 and 5% in Phase 2. Multi-step plans like the 3-Step and 5-Step Eon have lower per-phase targets, making them suitable for traders who prefer slower, more conservative growth. Vanguard Instant Funding has no evaluation phase but applies stricter drawdown and consistency rules from day one.

Minimum Trading Days

Most Upcomers challenges require a minimum of 3 to 5 trading days before you can pass to the next phase or request your first payout on a funded account. A trading day is defined as any day where at least one position is opened and closed. This rule prevents traders from passing challenges with a single lucky trade and rewards consistent strategy execution.

Consistency Rule

Upcomers applies a consistency rule on funded accounts to discourage gambling-style trading. Typically, no single trading day's profit can exceed 40-50% of the total profit at the time of payout. If your largest day breaks this ratio, your payout may be partially withheld until the consistency requirement is restored through additional trading.

Strict No-Automation Policy

This is the most important rule to understand: Upcomers strictly prohibits all forms of automated trading. This includes Expert Advisors (EAs), trading bots, copy trading services, signal services, high-frequency trading (HFT) systems, latency arbitrage, and any third-party algorithmic tools. The ban applies to every stage — challenge phases, funded accounts, and scaling plans. Violations result in immediate account closure with no refund. If you rely on automation, consider other prop firms that allow EAs.

Allowed Trading Strategies

Despite the automation ban, Upcomers is unusually flexible with manual trading strategies. The firm allows news trading, including positions held during high-impact economic releases like NFP, FOMC, and CPI. Weekend holding is permitted, meaning you can keep positions open over Saturday and Sunday — a major advantage for swing traders. Scalping, day trading, and swing trading are all allowed, provided trades are executed manually.

Prohibited Strategies

In addition to automation, Upcomers prohibits the following: hedging across multiple accounts, group trading (multiple traders coordinating identical positions), rick scalping with sub-second hold times, exploiting platform errors or pricing glitches, and any form of arbitrage between Upcomers and external brokers. These rules protect the firm's risk model and apply equally to all traders.

Inactivity Rule

Funded Upcomers accounts must show activity at least once every 30 days. Accounts with no trading activity for 30+ consecutive days may be subject to review or closure. This rule encourages traders to actively manage their funded capital rather than letting accounts sit idle.

Scaling Plan Rules

Once you're profitable on a funded account, the Upcomers Scaling Plan allows you to grow your capital up to $4,000,000. To qualify, traders must achieve consistent monthly profits (typically 10%+ over 3-4 months) and maintain compliance with all standard rules. The scaling structure rewards long-term consistency rather than short-term aggressive trading.

Dynamic Risk Shield™

The Dynamic Risk Shield™ is the core of Upcomers' risk management system.

Unlike a traditional static drawdown, the shield moves upward as your account reaches new equity highs while never moving back down. Once it reaches your starting balance, it locks permanently, protecting previously earned gains. If your account equity falls below the shield, the account is automatically breached.

Why It Matters

• Protects accumulated profits.
• Rewards consistent trading.
• Prevents excessive account drawdowns.
• Locks at the initial balance after sufficient growth.
• Applies automatically throughout the account lifecycle.

Daily Drawdown

Most Upcomers programs also include a Daily Drawdown limit.

The percentage varies depending on the selected funding model, but exceeding the daily loss threshold results in a hard breach, meaning the funded account or challenge account is terminated. The daily drawdown resets every trading day according to the firm's schedule.

Maximum Single Trade Loss

Upcomers limits the amount that can be lost on any individual trade.

Depending on the account type, traders may not lose more than 1.5%–3% of the initial account balance on a single trade. Splitting one position into multiple entries on the same instrument does not bypass this rule, as the system treats them as a single trade. Breaching this limit results in immediate account termination.

Best Day Rule

The Best Day Rule is one of Upcomers' most unique trading requirements.

To qualify for a payout, your most profitable trading day cannot represent more than 20% of your total profit during the current payout cycle (some Legacy programs use different thresholds). Unlike drawdown violations, this is a soft rule.

If your best trading day exceeds the permitted percentage:

• Your account is not breached.
• Your funded account remains active.
• Your payout is simply postponed until your profits become more evenly distributed through additional trading.

Payout Eligibility Rules

Before requesting a withdrawal, traders must satisfy several conditions.

Typical requirements include:

• Generate at least 1% profit from the initial account balance.
• Close all open positions.
• Meet the Best Day Rule.
• Complete KYC verification.
• Remain within all drawdown limits.
• Avoid prohibited trading practices.

News Trading & Weekend Holding

Most Upcomers evaluation programs allow traders to hold positions during major news events and over the weekend.

However, trading conditions may differ between challenge accounts, Futures programs, and Instant Funding products. Traders should always review the specific rules for their chosen account before trading around high-impact events such as NFP, CPI, or FOMC announcements.

Prohibited Trading Strategies

To maintain a fair trading environment, Upcomers prohibits trading methods designed to exploit platform weaknesses rather than genuine market opportunities.

Examples include:

• High-frequency trading (HFT)
• Latency arbitrage
• Tick scalping
• Market manipulation
• Platform abuse
• Unauthorized copy trading
• Account sharing
• Gambling-style trading behaviour

Violating these rules may lead to account closure, payout cancellation, or permanent disqualification.

Hard Breach vs Soft Breach

Understanding the difference between a Hard Breach and a Soft Breach is essential.

Hard Breach

A hard breach immediately closes the account.

Examples include:

• Breaking the Dynamic Risk Shield™.
• Exceeding the daily drawdown.
• Violating the maximum single trade loss rule.

Soft Breach

A soft breach does not close the account.

Instead, it temporarily prevents a payout until the condition has been corrected.

The most common soft breach is violating the Best Day Rule, which simply requires traders to continue trading until their profit distribution falls back within the allowed limit.

Common Rule Violations

Most failed accounts result from avoidable mistakes rather than poor market analysis.

The most common violations include:

• Exceeding the Dynamic Risk Shield™.
• Breaking the daily drawdown.
• Risking too much on a single trade.
• Ignoring the Best Day Rule.
• Using prohibited trading strategies.
• Requesting a payout before meeting the 1% profit requirement.
• Trading without understanding account-specific rules.

Carefully reviewing the rulebook before opening an account significantly improves the chances of long-term success.

Tips for Following Upcomers Rules

Professional funded traders generally recommend:

• Risk less than 1% per trade.
• Monitor the Dynamic Risk Shield™ after every session.
• Avoid oversized winning days before requesting a payout.
• Keep a detailed trading journal.
• Review account statistics daily.
• Read rule updates whenever new funding programs are released.
• Focus on consistent profitability instead of aggressive growth.

Final Tips for Passing Upcomers

To pass an Upcomers challenge and stay funded long-term: respect the daily and overall drawdown limits, avoid revenge trading, maintain consistency across trading days, never use any form of automation, and read the full rules in your dashboard before placing a single trade. With code TOPPROP you can save up to 85% off your first challenge — but the discount means nothing if you breach the rules. Trade with discipline.