Trading the Prop Firm Gauntlet: My Multi-Firm Challenge Journal
Welcome! This journal is a real-time log of my multi-firm prop trading journey. My aim is full transparency so traders—and firms—can track my performance, learn from my approach, and hold me accountable as I tackle multiple prop firm challenges. Whether you’re exploring prop trading or want to audit my discipline, you’ll find trade details, stats, lessons, and firm rules all below.
- Each trade is tailored for unique account rules—such as lot size limits, trade duration, and news restrictions.
- Adjustments are made on entry, sizing, timing, or exit to ensure every account remains fully compliant and displays true discretionary trading.
- This manual cross-firm approach demonstrates not just analysis consistency, but also operational discipline and rule-awareness.
Prop Firm Key Rules Comparison
| Prop Firm | Key Rules |
|---|---|
| CKFunded |
• Lot size consistency (average ×2/0.5 only, else not withdrawable) • Minimum trade duration: 3 min • No news trading: 5 min before/after news |
| FundedTop | • No news trading: 8 min before/after high-impact events |
| Funded7 | • Standard challenge/withdrawal rules apply. • Typical: daily and total loss max, min. trading days |
| Bullwaves Prime |
• Profit & lot size consistency at withdrawal • Max single trade/day = 30% total profit; trade lot = average −70% to +100% • Trades within 30 sec aggregated for rule check |
| TigerFunded |
• Max daily loss: 5% of initial balance • Max total loss: 12% (2-step) • EAs/trade copiers allowed in evaluation • Hedging, martingale, news, overnight/weekend all allowed • Consistency rule for payouts: No single day > 40% (Standard) / 15% (Pro) of profit |
CKFunded: $200,000 2-Step Challenge
Firm Overview:Two-phase evaluation with substantial capital. Lot size and news timing rules encourage careful, methodical trading.
Key Rules:- Consistent lot sizing: only 0.5×–2× average allowed for withdrawals
- Minimum trade duration: 3 minutes
- No open/close trades 5 minutes before/after major news
Adhered strongly to risk rules; a few near-misses around news required rapid position re-sizing.
FundedTop: $200,000 2-Step Challenge
Firm Overview:Strict on news event trading windows; otherwise a flexible environment for discretionary index and metal trades.
Key Rules:- No trades may be opened or closed 8 minutes before or after red-folder news
- Otherwise standard limits for max/daily loss per challenge phase
Manual trade adaptation means some positions remain flat if news is approaching, versus being taken in other accounts. This demands a high degree of situational awareness and calendar vigilance.
Funded7: $50,000 2-Step Challenge
Firm Overview:Conventional multi-phase evaluation geared toward day traders. Lot size and loss rules similar to industry standard.
Key Rules:- Standard minimum/maximum daily and total loss
- Minimum number of trading days per phase
Breached the daily loss due to a large position on XAUUSD—key learning: trade-sizing discipline and loss cut-off ‘triggers’ must be respected, especially when manually tracking multiple accounts.
Bullwaves Prime: $100,000 2-Step Challenge
Firm Overview:Strong focus on consistency. Withholds payout for outsized trades/days unless proven strategy control is demonstrated over time.
Key Rules:- Profit: No single trade/day may be >30% of payout-period profit
- Lot size: Profitable trades must be within average −70% to +100% at withdrawal
- Trades within 30 sec merged for evaluations
Trades are deliberately size-constrained in this account, even if the same setup on other firms would allow a larger entry. This guards payout eligibility.
TigerFunded: 100K (2 Phase, New Account)
Firm Overview:Unusually flexible: allows EAs, copiers, hedging, no SL, and broad news/overnight rules. Emphasizes risk on payout eligibility (not trade mechanism).
Key Rules:- Max daily loss: 5% of initial balance, resets at new highs
- Max total loss: 12% (2-step)
- EAs/trade copiers allowed in evaluation only
- Hedging, martingale, news, overnight/weekend trades allowed
- Consistency payout rule: single day <40% (Standard) or <15% (Pro) of payout-period profit
- No time limit on trading period
Account is new; initial positions mirror core setups, carefully monitoring for daily loss tracking nuances, especially as rules differ from stricter firms like Bullwaves.
Instant Funding: $2,500 Challenge
Firm Overview:Instant Funding offers a flexible $2,500 demo challenge with no time limits and a focus on protecting profits with smart drawdown rules.
Key Rules:- No time limit on challenge duration
- Profit target: 10% total profit ($250 on $2,500)
- Maximum drawdown: 10% initially;
after 5% gain, Smart Drawdown activates, tightening max drawdown to 5% to protect profits - Risk management: No more than 3% of account balance risked on any single trade
- Mini trading days before payouts:
• First payout allowed after minimum 14 trading days
• Subsequent payouts after at least 7 trading days - Profit split: 90% to trader (with your add-on)
- Leverage:
• Currencies up to 1:100
• Commodities & Indices up to 1:20
• Crypto up to 1:2 - Major News Trading Add-on:
Temporarily reduces leverage during high-impact news:
• Currencies up to 1:30
• Commodities up to 1:8
• Indices up to 1:10
• Crypto up to 1:1 - Weekend Hold Add-on:
Allows positions to be held over weekends - Account types: One-Phase and Two-Phase options available, each with defined profit targets and minimum trading days
- All trading is conducted in a demo environment
The Instant Funding challenge combines flexible trading with protective rules like smart drawdown and risk limits, making it suitable for discretionary traders focused on capital preservation and steady growth.
Lot Size Consistency Ranges by Symbol bullwaves 100K
| Symbol | Average Lot Size | Minimum Allowed | Maximum Allowed |
|---|---|---|---|
| SPXUSD | 4.11 | 1.23 | 8.22 |
| XAUUSD | 0.21 | 0.063 | 0.42 |
| EURUSD | 0.43 | 0.129 | 0.86 |
| AUDJPY | 0.20 | 0.06 | 0.40 |
| AUDUSD | 0.50 | 0.15 | 1.00 |
| DAXEUR | 0.33 | 0.099 | 0.66 |
| GBPUSD | 0.38 | 0.114 | 0.76 |
| NZDUSD | 0.30 | 0.09 | 0.60 |
| USDCAD | 0.50 | 0.15 | 1.00 |
Prop Challenge Account Dashboard
As of July 24, 2025
| Account Name | Balance | Equity | Floating (P/L) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fundedtop | $209,489.71 | $208,583.40 | -$906.31 |
| Tigerfunded | $101,180.82 | $100,918.11 | -$262.71 |
| CKFunded | $200,798.92 | $200,702.59 | -$96.33 |
| Bullwaves | $101,988.95 | $101,404.58 | -$584.37 |
Notes:
- Floating (P/L) is calculated as the difference between equity and balance, showing your current unrealized profit or loss.
- Data reflects the latest account status as of July 24, 2025.
Prop Challenge Account Dashboard
As of July 28, 2025
| Account Name | Balance | Equity | Floating (P/L) | P/L (Balance) vs. Jul 24 |
P/L (Equity) vs. Jul 24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fundedtop | 208,801.72 USD | 208,801.72 USD | 0.00 | -687.99 USD | +218.32 USD |
| Tigerfunded | 101,004.96 USD | 101,004.96 USD | 0.00 | -175.86 USD | +86.85 USD |
| CKFunded | 200,912.63 USD | 200,912.63 USD | 0.00 | +113.71 USD | +210.04 USD |
| Bullwaves | 101,660.35 USD | 101,660.35 USD | 0.00 | -328.60 USD | +255.77 USD |
| Instantfunding | 2,536.00 USD | 2,536.00 USD | 0.00 | +36.00 USD | +36.00 USD |
Notes:
- Floating (P/L) is calculated as the difference between equity and balance, showing your current unrealized profit or loss.
- P/L columns show change in Balance or Equity since July 24, 2025.
- Data reflects your latest account status as of the date above.
CKFunded Prop Firm – Lot Size Consistency Ranges by Symbol
As of July 28, 2025
| Symbol | Average Lot Size | Minimum Allowed (0.5 × Avg) | Maximum Allowed (2 × Avg) |
|---|---|---|---|
| USA500.t | 64.52 | 32.26 | 129.03 |
| XAUUSD.t | 0.31 | 0.15 | 0.61 |
| EURUSD.t | 0.58 | 0.29 | 1.16 |
| GBPUSD.t | 0.43 | 0.22 | 0.86 |
| AUDJPY.t | 0.25 | 0.13 | 0.50 |
| AUDUSD.t | 0.50 | 0.25 | 1.00 |
| NZDUSD.t | 0.30 | 0.15 | 0.60 |
| USDCAD.t | 0.50 | 0.25 | 1.00 |
| DAXEUR.t | 0.22 | 0.11 | 0.44 |
| Account Name | Account Size | Balance | Equity | Floating (P/L) | P/L (Balance) vs. Previous | P/L (Equity) vs. Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bullwaves | 100,000 USD | 101,660.35 USD | 101,660.35 USD | 0.00 | +328.60 USD | +255.77 USD |
| Fundedtop | 200,000 USD | 209,162.32 USD | 209,162.32 USD | 0.00 | +360.60 USD | +360.60 USD |
| Tigerfunded | 100,000 USD | 101,153.90 USD | 101,153.90 USD | 0.00 | +148.94 USD | +148.94 USD |
| CKFunded | 200,000 USD | 201,190.43 USD | 201,190.43 USD | 0.00 | +389.08 USD | +389.08 USD |
| Instantfunding | 2,500 USD | 2,585.64 USD | 2,585.64 USD | 0.00 | +49.64 USD | +49.64 USD |
Prop Challenge Account Dashboard
As of 2nd August 2025
| Account Name | Balance | Equity | Floating (P/L) | P/L (Balance) vs. Previous |
P/L (Equity) vs. Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fundedtop Phase 1 | 216,000.00 USD | 216,000.00 USD | 0.00 | +7,198.28 USD | +7,198.28 USD |
| Fundedtop Phase 2 | 201,100.00 USD | 201,100.00 USD | 0.00 | +1,100.00 USD | +1,100.00 USD |
| Bullwaves | 101,872.03 USD | 101,872.03 USD | 0.00 | +211.68 USD | +211.68 USD |
| CKFunded | 200,632.13 USD | 200,632.13 USD | 0.00 | -280.50 USD | -280.50 USD |
| Tigerfunded | 101,211.93 USD | 101,211.93 USD | 0.00 | +206.97 USD | +206.97 USD |
| Total | +8,436.43 USD | +8,436.43 USD |
Notes:
- Floating (P/L): All accounts currently show no open trades (Floating P/L = 0.00).
- P/L columns: Calculated as current value minus previous value for each account as provided in your prior update.
- All figures reflect account status as of 2nd August 2025.
Why I Document My Trades
- Transparency: Every entry, win or loss, is here for scrutiny.
- Accountability: Trade history demonstrates genuine trading—not hype.
- Education: My journal is a resource for other traders learning about prop firm challenges.
- Evidence: Publicly logs proof of challenge progress in case of disputes with firms.