News Trading Rules at Every Major Prop Firm: The Complete 2026 Guide

29 firms covered · Challenge Phase vs Funded Stage · Researched from official help centres and terms

Let's be honest: the challenge phase is usually the easy part. Most firms let you trade news freely during evaluation. It's the funded stage where things get complicated — and where a single misstep during an NFP or CPI release can cost you profits, trigger a soft breach, or end your account entirely.

We went through the official documentation, help centres, and terms of service for every firm we list on PropFirmStats — all 29 of them — and compiled the definitive guide to news trading rules for 2026.

The Golden Rule: Always check your specific account type. The same firm can have completely different rules depending on which plan you're on. Always verify directly with the firm's help centre before trading a major event.

Quick Reference: How Firms Are Categorised

Before diving in firm by firm, here's the big picture. Prop firm news trading policies fall into four categories:

✓✅ Fully Free (Both Stages) — No restrictions at any point
✓⚠️ Profit Penalty on Funded Stage — You can trade, but profits during news windows may be reduced or deducted
✓🕐 No-Execute Window — You can hold existing trades through news, but cannot open or close during the window
✓❌ Add-On Required or Banned — News trading is restricted or locked behind a paid add-on

Firm-by-Firm Breakdown

1. FTMO

Challenge: Fully free — all evaluation phases unrestricted.

Standard Funded: Cannot open or close any position (including SL/TP triggers) within 2 minutes before or after major news on targeted instruments: USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, NZD, CHF pairs + Gold, US Indices, Crude Oil, DXY.

Swing Funded: Zero restrictions whatsoever.

Key Exception: You may hold an existing trade through the window if it was opened more than 2 minutes before the event.

2. FundedNext

Challenge (all Stellar plans): Fully free.

Funded (Stellar 1-Step, 2-Step, Lite, Instant): The News Reward Share Rule applies — only 40% of profits from trades opened or closed within 5 minutes before/after a high-impact event count toward your balance. Losses are 100% applied.

Key Exception: Only applies if the news directly correlates with your trading pair. Trading EUR/USD during Chinese economic news? No restriction.

Safety net: If the adjusted balance goes negative after a cycle ends, the next cycle restarts at the initial balance.

3. FXIFY

1-Phase, 2-Phase, 3-Phase — Challenge & Funded: Fully allowed.

Instant Funding: Not permitted.

Lightning Challenge: Not permitted.

If news trading is your strategy, stick to FXIFY's standard evaluation plans and avoid the Instant or Lightning account types.

4. FundingPips

Challenge (1-Step, 2-Step, Pro): No opening or closing within 5 minutes before/after red-folder news. Holding through news is permitted.

Funded/Master Account: Same restriction — plus profits from trades in the window are fully deducted.

5-Hour Exception: If your trade was opened at least 5 hours before the event, profits are fully protected even if closed during the window.

Zero Account (strictest): No trading OR holding within 10 minutes either side. Any violation = instant account termination.

5. BrightFunded

Phase 1 & Phase 2: Fully free.

Funded Account: Cannot open or close within a 10-minute window (5 min before + 5 min after). Profits are deducted. It's a soft breach — account stays open, no termination.

48-Hour Exception: Trades opened 48+ hours before the news event are fully exempt, even if TP triggers inside the window.

6. The5ers

Challenge & Funded: Cannot execute any order (open, close, modify, or pending trigger) within 2 minutes before or after a high-impact news event. Holding an existing trade is allowed — only execution is restricted.

Important: Bracket strategies around news (buy stop + sell stop to catch direction) are explicitly banned.

7. Finotive Funding

Challenge & Funded: No explicit news trading restriction. However, straddling (placing both buy and sell orders around news) is prohibited. Latency arbitrage exploiting price delays is also banned.

8. Think Capital

Standard accounts: Allowed on both challenge and funded.

Lightning, Dual Step Intraday, Nexus: News trading is completely banned across both challenge and funded stages. If you trade news, avoid these three plan types entirely.

9. E8 Markets

Challenge & Funded: No news trading restrictions. However, note that the 40% consistency rule applies on funded — a highly profitable news day that dominates your total profits could trigger a review.

10. OFP Funding

Challenge & Funded: No news trading restrictions. One of the most open firms on rules — no scalping ban, no minimum trading days, and no news restrictions.

11. Maven Trading

Challenge: Fully free.

Funded: Profits made during news windows are deducted. Confirm the exact restricted window directly with Maven before trading.

12. Evercrest Funding

Challenge & Funded: No news trading restrictions reported. Standard drawdown rules apply at all times.

13. SpiceProp

Challenge & Funded: No explicit news trading ban. Straddling and latency arbitrage remain prohibited as part of general rules — avoid these around news events.

14. Funded Trading Plus (FTP)

Challenge & Funded: News trading allowed across all account types. No penalty mechanism reported for news trades.

15. EverTrader

Challenge (Evaluation): No restrictions.

Funded: You can hold trades through news events but cannot open or close positions during the event window. Same structure as FundingPips — execution banned, holding permitted.

16. The Funded Way

Challenge & Funded: Fully free — no news trading restrictions at all. One of the most news-trader-friendly firms on the list.

17. TTT Markets

Challenge & Funded (1-Step, 2-Step, Instant): News trading allowed across all plans.

Note: Weekend holding is not allowed — all positions must be closed before Friday market close. The lot size consistency rule also applies.

18. TradersYard

Challenge & Funded: News trading listed as allowed. However, "news trading abuse" is a flagged prohibited practice — extreme position sizing or stacking around events can be reviewed.

Consistency rule: The 40% best-day rule applies — a dominant news win may delay your payout request until other profits balance it out.

19. PropXP

Challenge: Freely allowed.

Funded & Instant Funding: News trading requires purchasing a dedicated News Trading Add-On. Without it, you must avoid news windows on funded accounts. The add-on must be purchased upfront at account setup.

20. SwayFunded

Challenge & Funded: No trading within 5 minutes before or after a restricted high-impact news event on affected instruments. Applies equally to both evaluation and funded stages.

21. Audacity Capital

Challenge & Funded: Cannot open or add to positions within 3 minutes before or after any major news event or speech. Holding existing trades through news is allowed. Applies equally to both stages.

22. TX3 Funding

All accounts (Challenge & Funded): News trading is only permitted with the News Trading Add-On. Without it, no trading allowed within 5 minutes before or after red-folder events, all-day events, or tentative events. Applies to 1-Phase, Pro, Flex, Instant Standard, and Instant Pro accounts — no exceptions.

23. FundingRock

Challenge & Funded: No trading within 2 minutes before or after high-impact news (NFP, CPI, FOMC) on affected instruments.

Exception: You may hold an existing trade through the event but cannot open, close, or modify it within the 4-minute window.

24. QuantTekel

Challenge & Funded: No manual trade actions within 5 minutes before or after high-impact news. Manual opening, closing, modifying SL/TP, or changing orders in the window is prohibited.

Exception: Pre-set limit orders with SL & TP already placed more than 5 minutes before the news are allowed to execute naturally.

Note: Violations = soft breach. Reference source: Forex Factory (MT5 server time).

25. IFUNDS

Instant Funded Account: No news trading restrictions reported. IFUNDS operates as an instant funding firm only — no traditional challenge phase.

26. MyFundedCapital

Challenge & Funded: No hard news trading ban reported. Always verify current terms before trading specific high-impact events.

27. TradingFunds

Challenge & Funded: Explicitly no news trading restrictions. Their own documentation states: "TradingFunds does not restrict news trading. Traders can trade through economic releases without time-based limitations, provided risk rules are respected."

28. IcFunded

Challenge & Funded: No news trading restrictions reported. Standard drawdown rules apply at all times.

29. Alpha Trader Firm

Challenge & Funded: No news trading restrictions. Known for flexible, trader-friendly rules — including a 100% profit split option.

Summary by Category

✅ Fully Free — Both Stages

Funded Trading Plus · OFP Funding · The Funded Way · Evercrest Funding · SpiceProp · E8 Markets · Finotive Funding · TradingFunds · IFUNDS · IcFunded · MyFundedCapital · Alpha Trader Firm · TTT Markets · FXIFY (standard plans)

⚠️ Profit Penalty on Funded Stage

FundedNext (40% of profits count) · FundingPips (profits deducted, 5hr exception) · BrightFunded (profits deducted, 48hr exception) · Maven Trading (profits deducted)

🕐 No-Execute Window — Holding Allowed

FTMO Standard (2-min) · The5ers (2-min) · EverTrader · FundingRock (2-min) · Audacity Capital (3-min) · SwayFunded (5-min) · QuantTekel (5-min)

❌ Add-On Required or Full Ban

TX3 Funding (add-on required, all accounts) · PropXP (add-on required on funded) · Think Capital (Lightning / Nexus / Intraday = banned) · FXIFY Instant & Lightning · TradersYard (abuse-level usage flagged)

Final Thoughts

News trading is one of the highest-edge strategies available to retail traders — but in the prop firm world, it comes with a layer of complexity that can catch even experienced traders off guard. The gap between challenge rules and funded rules is the most dangerous blind spot.

Before your next major event — whether it's NFP, CPI, FOMC, or a central bank speech — take 5 minutes to check exactly where your firm stands on the account type you hold. The rules above are accurate as of May 2026, but prop firm terms evolve frequently.

Track all upcoming high-impact events at ForexFactory.com/calendar

#news trading

#prop firm rules

#funded accounts

#trading guide

#2026

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News Trading Rules at Every Major Prop Firm: The Complete 2026 Guide (29 Firms Covered)