Below you’ll find the key rules and answers to common questions for Two-Phase — a two-step evaluation with clear targets, on-demand payouts and nothing hidden in the small print.
Profit Target
The Two-Phase Challenge has two stages: achieve 8% in phase one, then 5% in phase two to complete the challenge.
- Phase 1
- 8% of starting balance
- Phase 2
- 5% of starting balance
- Minimum trading days
- 3 separate days
- Time limit
- None — complete the challenge at your own pace
Example: with a $10,000 account, first make $800 in phase one, then $500 in phase two.
Daily Loss
A cap on how much you can lose in a single day. Breaching it closes the account.
- Limit
- 5% of account value / day
- Resets
- 17:00 EST (rollover)
Recalculated at 17:00 EST on the higher of your Balance (excl. open trades) or Equity (incl. open trades). Example: balance $10,000, equity $10,500 at rollover → next day’s limit is 5% of $10,500 = $525.
Static Drawdown
Your maximum account loss limit — a static threshold, not a trailing one.
- Limit
- 10% of starting balance (static)
Fixed to your starting balance — it doesn’t move as your balance grows. Example: with a $10,000 starting balance, your account can’t drop below $9,000.
Payouts
Two-Phase offers on-demand payouts — you can withdraw your profit as soon as you meet the conditions.
- Type
- On-demand
- Consistency rule
- 40% Best Day Rule
- Minimum profit
- 1.5% of starting balance or $25, whichever is larger
Your best trading day must not exceed 40% of your total profit (e.g. $1,000 total profit → best day $400 or less). How to request a withdrawal: Verify you meet the On-Demand Payout qualifications and close all active trades before requesting your withdrawal. Then go to your dashboard, choose your preferred withdrawal method and the amount.
Scaling
Grow your account by at least 10% over a 90-day period and receive a 25% increase to your starting balance — repeatable up to double the original amount.
- Requirement
- +10% growth over 90 days
- Reward
- +25% of starting balance
- Maximum
- Up to +100% of original balance
To claim: email support@instantfunding.com with the subject “Scaling Request”, including your Account ID and confirmation of your 10%+ gain and 90+ day account age. Repeatable every 90 days.
News Trading
News trading is only permitted with the Major News Trading add-on, which gives you full access to trade during high-impact events.
- Without add-on
- Restricted — 4 minutes either side of a major news event
- With add-on
- Included
Without the add-on, trades executed within 4 minutes before or after a major news event are restricted. Profits from such trades may be adjusted, and accounts reset if necessary. See the full list of affected news events via the link above.
Weekend & Overnight Holding
Overnight holding is included. Weekend holding is included during the challenge phases; on a funded account it requires the add-on “Allow major news trading and weekend holding”.
- Overnight
- Included
- Weekend (challenge)
- Included
- Weekend (funded)
- Add-on required
If you don’t have the add-on, make sure to close all positions before the market closes on Friday to avoid a breach.
Built-in safety, not surprises
These limits exist to protect your account and keep a level playing field for every trader. Stay within them, manage your risk, and you’ll trade your way to a payout.
Max Lot Rule
Clear limits on total lot sizes per asset class. Multiple positions within the same category are counted together when calculating total volume.
| Two-Phase challenge size | FX | Commodities / Metals | Indices | Crypto |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $5,000 | 2 | 0.15 | 1 | 0.5 |
| $10,000 | 4 | 0.3 | 2 | 1 |
| $25,000 | 10 | 0.75 | 5 | 2.5 |
| $50,000 | 20 | 1.5 | 10 | 5 |
| $100,000 | 40 | 3 | 20 | 10 |
| $200,000 | 80 | 6 | 40 | 20 |
Violating the Maximum Lot Rule results in a full account reset.
Risk per Trade Idea
You may not risk or lose more than 50% of the account’s starting daily drawdown at any time in one trade idea.
- Limit
- 50% of the starting daily drawdown per trade idea
- Breach type
- Hard breach
A trade idea includes all open positions on the same instrument in the same direction (Buy or Sell). Closing and reopening a position in the same direction on the same instrument within 10 minutes counts as the same trade idea and does not reset the limit.
Account Limits
One combined cap of $1,000,000 across all account and challenge types, based on starting balance only — not a separate cap per programme. Scaling doesn’t count against your cap: if an account grows through a scaling plan, only the original starting balance is counted and the scaled-up portion is excluded.
Example: if you already have $200,000 allocated in Instant Funding Smart Funding and $400,000 in One Phase Funding, that’s $600,000 of your $1,000,000 cap used, leaving $400,000 of headroom for other challenge types. If that One Phase Funding account later scales from $400,000 to $500,000, your allocation used still counts as $400,000, not $500,000 — so your remaining headroom stays at $400,000 rather than shrinking.
Instrument Commissions
Commission-free accounts have no commissions. The rates below apply only to RAW spreads accounts.
- FX
- $5 / lot
- Metals
- $5 / lot
- Commodities
- $2 / lot
- Crypto
- $1 / lot
- Indices
- ~$2 (USD-based)
Inactivity
If no trade is placed within 60 days of your account purchase, or within 60 days of your last trade, the account is automatically closed.
The following strategies and behaviours are not permitted and may result in account termination or profit removal. They undermine fair evaluation and a level playing field for every trader. See the full policy →
One-Sided Bets
All-or-nothing directional positions that rely on a single outcome instead of managed risk.
Grid Trading
Opening multiple layered positions at set price intervals to build exposure automatically. This includes both traditional grid trading, where orders are placed above and below the current set price, and one-directional grid trading, where multiple positions are continuously layered in the same direction (i.e. order book spamming). Grid-style behaviour is restricted because it can create uncontrolled risk across the account.
High-Frequency Trading
Trades held 60 seconds or less, or an unusually high number of trades per hour.
Copy Trading (unrelated)
Copying trades, signals or management from accounts that aren’t your own. Your own accounts are fine.
Public Third-Party EAs
Public third-party expert advisors are restricted. First-party EAs you build yourself are allowed.
Reverse Trading & Group Hedging
Opposite positions across accounts, or coordinated positions across traders, to eliminate risk.
Group Copying / Account Management
Anyone other than the owner trading the account, or identical-setting group copying. Breaches KYC/AML.
Account Churning (Rolling)
Repeatedly opening and recycling accounts to game resets, refunds or payouts.
Exploiting System Glitches
Profiting from platform bugs, pricing errors or technical faults rather than genuine market moves.
Exploiting Platform Inefficiencies
Gaming latency, feed gaps or execution quirks for an unfair edge.
