SFX Funded Rules: Drawdown, Consistency Rule, Scaling Plan and Every Account
Review the documented rules, source notes, tools, and account checks recorded for SFX Funded Rules: Drawdown, Consistency Rule, Scaling Plan and Every Account.
Rules can change: The firm or platform controls the current wording. Confirm the linked source and your dashboard before you trade or request a payout.
SFX Funded rules for every account on sale: the 2-Step Challenge (called Ascend in the help centre), 1-Step Pro, Rapid Challenge and Instant Plans, plus the help-centre-only Pass First, Pay Later and SFX-GO accounts. SFX Funded is a Dubai-based forex and CFD prop firm (SFX International FZCO) that runs simulated accounts on Match-Trader and Platform 5. The headline numbers are simple: an 8% then 5% target on the 2-Step, 9% on 1-Step Pro, 3% on Rapid and no target on Instant. The rules that decide most outcomes sit underneath them: static versus trailing drawdown, a daily loss limit measured from the higher of balance and equity, a trading day that only counts when you make 0.5%, the SFX Stability Index (the SFX Funded consistency rule), the SFX Protect floating-loss cut-off, a 4-minute news window on funded accounts, and a long list of banned strategies. This page covers each one with dollar values for every account size, worked examples, two calculators, the scaling plan and the places where SFX’s own pages disagree.
Account Picker
Choose your SFX Funded account. The result lists the published rule values and the rule most likely to catch you out on that account.
What can trip you up
Rows To Inspect First
These are the rules SFX’s own articles say end accounts or block payouts, and the ones traders who only read the plan cards tend to miss. The labels explain why each row is surfaced; they are not a recommendation to buy or avoid any account.
Trading days need 0.5% profit
Minimum trading days are not days you trade. A day counts only if it makes at least 0.5% of the starting balance, so 10 funded days on Rapid or Instant quietly require 5% profit before you can ask for a standard payout, more than the published 3% or 4% minimum.
Floating loss rules differ by account
1-Step Pro: a 1% open loss is a warning and cuts the split to 40%; a second one closes the account. Instant: a 2% open loss (1% on $300K and $400K) closes it at once. 2-Step funded: three strikes. Rapid funded: one.
Trailing drawdown never locks
Rapid (4%), 1-Step Pro (6%) and Instant (6%) trail your highest account value and, as published, keep trailing above your starting balance. Only the 2-Step uses a static 8% floor measured from the initial balance.
SFX Funded Rule Checks
| Rule area | Official-source snapshot | What to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum drawdown static or trailing, hard breach | 2-Step: 8% static, measured from the initial balance in both phases and funded. Rapid: 4% trailing. 1-Step Pro: 6% trailing. Instant: 6% trailing. The trailing types follow your highest recorded account value and never move down. | Touching the floor closes the account. SFX publishes no point at which a trailing floor stops at the starting balance, so on Rapid it can sit above your starting balance after a 4% run-up. Source: SFX Funded Ascend 2-Step Challenge, How It Works (March 21, 2026) and Rapid 1-Step Challenge, How It Works (July 18, 2026) and 1-Step Pro Challenge, How It Works (July 28, 2026) and Instant Funding, How It Works (July 28, 2026) – drawdown sections and examples – checked October 11, 2026. |
| Daily loss limit hard breach | 2-Step 4%, Rapid 3%, Instant 3%. 1-Step Pro has none at any stage. The limit is a percentage of the higher of balance and equity at the daily reset, so a day that starts with open profit gets a higher floor. | Open losses count. The 2-Step article puts the reset at 9:00 PM UTC; the Rapid and Instant articles and the dashboard use UTC+0. Source: SFX Funded Ascend 2-Step Challenge, How It Works (March 21, 2026) and Rapid 1-Step Challenge, How It Works (July 18, 2026) and Instant Funding, How It Works (July 28, 2026) and What is your user dashboard time? – daily loss sections – checked October 11, 2026. |
| Profit target and minimum days no time limit | 2-Step 8% then 5%, with 5 trading days in each phase. 1-Step Pro 9% in at least 4 trading days. Rapid 3% with no minimum days. Instant has no target. Pass First, Pay Later 3% with no minimum days. | No program has a maximum time, and the clock only starts with your first trade. A trading day needs 0.5% profit to count. Source: SFX Funded Ascend 2-Step Challenge, How It Works (March 21, 2026) and 1-Step Pro Challenge, How It Works (July 28, 2026) and Rapid 1-Step Challenge, How It Works (July 18, 2026) and What are the trading periods at SFX Funded? and What is considered a trading day? (January 21, 2026) – phase tables and trading-period article – checked October 11, 2026. |
| Consistency rule (SFX Stability Index) payout gate, not a breach | Best day divided by total profit in the payout period. Caps: Rapid funded 15%, Instant 15%, 1-Step Pro 20%, 2-Step funded 25%, Pass First Pay Later 20%, SFX-GO 15%. Shown as “Consistency” on the dashboard. | There is no stability check in the evaluations. A high reading only blocks the payout request; you keep trading until it falls. Source: SFX Funded SFX Stability Index and Pass First, Pay Later 1-Step Model and SFX-GO Accounts, How It Works – Stability Index thresholds – checked October 11, 2026. Full source URLsSFX Stability Index and Pass First, Pay Later 1-Step Model and SFX-GO Accounts, How It Works |
| Trading day definition counts only profitable days | A trading day is a day that closes with profit of at least 0.5% of the starting balance. Days with losses or no trading do not count. Days do not have to be consecutive. | The Terms also ban opening abnormally small trades just to meet the minimum trading days requirement. Source: SFX Funded What is considered a trading day? (January 21, 2026) and 1-Step Pro Challenge, How It Works (July 28, 2026) and Terms of Service – trading-day article, 1-Step Pro article and Terms 9.5 – checked October 11, 2026. |
| SFX Protect and floating loss funded accounts | At a 2% combined open loss, SFX Protect closes all positions. 2-Step funded: first hit no penalty, second cuts the split to 50%, third breaches. Rapid funded and Instant: first hit breaches. 1-Step Pro has its own 1% floating-loss rule: warning plus a 40% split, then closure. | Instant $300K and $400K accounts are closed at a 1% floating loss. SFX Protect does not apply during evaluations. Source: SFX Funded SFX Protect: Your Risk Safety Net and 1-Step Pro Challenge, How It Works (July 28, 2026) and Instant Funding, How It Works (July 28, 2026) – SFX Protect article and program articles – checked October 11, 2026. |
| News trading funded stage only | Evaluations: allowed. Funded: no market orders opened or closed, no pending orders filled and no stops or targets hit from 2 minutes before to 2 minutes after a Forex Factory red-folder release. | 2-Step, Rapid and 1-Step Pro: two warnings with the profit from those trades removed, then a breach. Instant: one warning, then a breach. Straddling and bracketing are banned in every phase. Source: SFX Funded Can I trade during news in the Ascend 2-Step Program? and Can I trade news events in the Rapid Program? and Can I trade during news in the Instant Funding Program? and Can I trade news events in the 1-Step Pro? – news articles – checked October 11, 2026. |
| Overnight and weekend holds allowed | Allowed on 2-Step, Rapid, 1-Step Pro and Instant, in evaluation and funded stages. Crypto can be traded at weekends on every account type. | No swap-free accounts are offered, so holds pay swaps. The Terms ban opening trades before a scheduled event when the market then closes for 2 hours or more (gap trading). Source: SFX Funded Overnight and weekend holds, Ascend and Overnight and weekend holds, Rapid and Overnight and weekend holds, 1-Step Pro and Overnight and weekend holds, Instant Funding and Can I trade crypto during the weekend? and Can I get a swap-free account? and Terms of Service – holding articles and Terms 9.2.6 – checked October 11, 2026. |
| Leverage and margin 150% margin level | Forex 1:30, commodities and metals 1:10, indices 1:10, crypto 1:2. A margin level of 150% or lower counts as over-leveraging. | Penalties listed: payout denial, reset to Phase 1 or a hard breach. Layered positions are added together when SFX judges over-leveraging. Source: SFX Funded What is the leverage? and What is considered over-leveraging? (September 1, 2026) and How can traders calculate the maximum lot size to avoid over-leveraging? – leverage and over-leveraging articles – checked October 11, 2026. |
| EAs, copy trading and hedging mostly banned | Trade and risk managers are allowed, and EAs you wrote yourself if you can hand over the source code. Third-party EAs, copy trading (even between your own accounts), hedging and VPN or VPS use are banned. | Rollover-scalping and news-scalping EAs are banned even if self-built. Source: SFX Funded Can I use EAs? and Is copy trading allowed? and Do you allow hedging trades? and Can I use a VPN or VPS while trading with SFX Funded? – EA, copy-trading, hedging and VPN articles – checked October 11, 2026. Full source URLsCan I use EAs? and Is copy trading allowed? and Do you allow hedging trades? and Can I use a VPN or VPS while trading with SFX Funded? |
| Banned strategies discretionary review | Gambling to pass (more than 1-2% risk per trade idea), opposite-direction trades within 10 minutes of a loss, more than four layered orders, martingale, grid, HFT, tick scalping, latency or hedge arbitrage, news bracketing, one-sided bets, churning accounts and more. | Sanctions range from profit deduction and resets to a split cut to 20-25%, leverage cut to 1:10 and a permanent ban. Source: SFX Funded Prohibited Trading Styles/Strategy (August 17, 2026) and Terms of Service – Prohibited Trading Styles article and Terms 9.2-9.7 – checked October 11, 2026. Full source URLsProhibited Trading Styles/Strategy (August 17, 2026) and Terms of Service |
| Account limits $500K per person | Unlimited evaluations, but at most $500,000 in funded capital. Funded accounts of the same program can be merged at the starting balance; Instant accounts cannot. | Each account must be traded separately. One name and one email per trader. Source: SFX Funded What is the maximum funded capital I can trade with? and How many evaluation accounts can I purchase? and Can I merge my accounts? and Can I have more than one account under different names? – account-limit articles – checked October 11, 2026. |
| Inactivity 30 days | No trade for 30 days suspends the account under the help article and ends the agreement under Terms 13.6. | One trade inside each 30-day window resets the clock. Source: SFX Funded Is there an inactivity period? and Terms of Service – inactivity article and Terms 13.6 – checked October 11, 2026. Full source URLs |
| Scaling plan +25% every 3 months | Each quarter: profitable in 2 of 3 months, at least 10% cumulative growth and at least 2 payouts. Then the balance rises by 25% of the initial balance, up to $3.2 million. | A 100% split needs 5% or more profit in each of 6 consecutive months plus approval from the risk team. Source: SFX Funded Do you have a scaling plan? – scaling plan article – checked October 11, 2026. Full source URL |
SFX Funded Rules for Every Account, Side by Side
SFX Funded sells four programs on its plan pages. Two more, Pass First, Pay Later and SFX-GO, have full rule articles in the help centre but were not on the plan pages or the Compare Plans page on the check date. All of them use the same leverage (1:30 on forex), the same banned-strategy list and the same 0.5% trading-day definition.
| Rule | 2-Step (Ascend) | 1-Step Pro | Rapid | Instant |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phases | 2 | 1 | 1 | None |
| Profit target | 8% then 5% | 9% | 3% | None |
| Daily loss limit | 4% (evaluation and funded) | None | 3% (evaluation and funded) | 3% |
| Maximum loss | 8% static | 6% trailing | 4% trailing | 6% trailing |
| Minimum trading days to pass | 5 per phase | 4 | None | – |
| Funded trading days per payout | 5 | 7 | 10 | 10 |
| Minimum profit for a standard payout | 2% | 3% | 3% | 4% |
| Stability Index cap (funded) | 25% | 20% | 15% | 15% |
| Floating-loss rule (funded) | SFX Protect 2%: 3 strikes | 1%: warning and 40% split, then closure | SFX Protect 2%: 1 strike | 2% (1% on $300K and $400K): 1 strike |
| First standard payout | 14 calendar days after the first funded trade, then every 14 days | Once milestones are met, no calendar wait | Once milestones are met, no calendar wait | Once milestones are met, no calendar wait |
| Payout on Demand (40% split, after 3 trading days) | Yes | Not listed | Yes | Not listed |
| Standard split | 85%, up to 100% | 85%, up to 100% | 85%, up to 100% | 85%, up to 100% |
| News in funded stage | 2 warnings, then breach | 2 warnings, then breach | 2 warnings, then breach | 1 warning, then breach |
| Overnight and weekend | Allowed | Allowed | Allowed | Allowed |
| Sizes | $7.5K-$180K | $10K-$200K | $15K-$250K | $5K-$400K |
| Fee on the check date (50% sale) | $39-$374 | $59-$649 | $79-$639 | $54-$1,499 |
Source: SFX Funded Ascend 2-Step Challenge, How It Works (March 21, 2026) and 1-Step Pro Challenge, How It Works (July 28, 2026) and Rapid 1-Step Challenge, How It Works (July 18, 2026) and Instant Funding, How It Works (July 28, 2026) and SFX Stability Index and SFX Protect: Your Risk Safety Net and When can I get paid in the Ascend 2-Step Program? and When can I get paid in the 1-Step Pro Program? and When can I get paid in the 1-Step Rapid Program? and When can I get paid in the Instant Funding Program? and How does Payout on Demand work? and Compare Plans page – program tables, payout and Stability Index articles, and the plan builders – checked October 11, 2026.
Full source URLs
Ascend 2-Step Challenge, How It Works (March 21, 2026) and 1-Step Pro Challenge, How It Works (July 28, 2026) and Rapid 1-Step Challenge, How It Works (July 18, 2026) and Instant Funding, How It Works (July 28, 2026) and SFX Stability Index and SFX Protect: Your Risk Safety Net and When can I get paid in the Ascend 2-Step Program? and When can I get paid in the 1-Step Pro Program? and When can I get paid in the 1-Step Rapid Program? and When can I get paid in the Instant Funding Program? and How does Payout on Demand work? and Compare Plans page
SFX Funded 2-Step Challenge (Ascend) Rules
The 2-Step Challenge is the plan the help centre calls the Ascend 2-Step Challenge. You pass Phase 1 at 8% and Phase 2 at 5%, each in at least 5 trading days, with no time limit. After Phase 2 the risk team reviews the whole evaluation, you complete KYC, and SFX says funded credentials usually follow within 48 business hours. Phase 2 details arrive by email automatically after Phase 1.
| Size | Fee on Oct 11, 2026 | Phase 1 target (8%) | Phase 2 target (5%) | Daily loss on day one (4%) | Static floor (8%) | Trading-day minimum (0.5%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $7.5K | $39 (list $79) | $600 | $375 | $300 | $6,900 | $37.50 |
| $15K | $64 (list $129) | $1,200 | $750 | $600 | $13,800 | $75 |
| $30K | $99 (list $199) | $2,400 | $1,500 | $1,200 | $27,600 | $150 |
| $60K | $149 (list $299) | $4,800 | $3,000 | $2,400 | $55,200 | $300 |
| $120K | $249 (list $499) | $9,600 | $6,000 | $4,800 | $110,400 | $600 |
| $180K | $374 (list $749) | $14,400 | $9,000 | $7,200 | $165,600 | $900 |
- The static floor is fixed at 92% of the initial balance in both phases and on the funded account, and it never rises. On a $60K account it stays at $55,200 however far the balance climbs.
- The 4% daily limit is recalculated each day from the higher of balance and equity at the reset. SFX’s own example: balance $105,000, equity $107,000, so the day’s floor is $107,000 minus $4,280 = $102,720.
- Funded stage: 5 trading days per payout, Stability Index at or below 25%, SFX Protect at a 2% open loss (first hit no penalty, second cuts the split to 50%, third breaches), and the funded news window.
- The 2-Step plan page says it pays a 20% share of the simulated profit made in Phase 1 and Phase 2; the profit-share article says that share is paid out after 7 funded payouts.
Source: SFX Funded Ascend 2-Step Challenge, How It Works (March 21, 2026) and 2-Step Challenge plan page and plan builder and SFX Protect: Your Risk Saf