Prop Firm Rule Changes: The 3 Major Shifts Every Trader Must Know

The proprietary trading firm industry is in a phase of rapid maturity, and the rules of the game are changing. Over the last months, major players like Lark Funding, Instant Funding, Finotive Funding, Top One Trader, Maven Trading, ATFunded, AquaFunded, FundedNext, Funding Traders and OANDA Prop Trader have introduced sweeping updates to their programs.

If you are a serious trader looking to get funded, scale your capital, or find the best prop firm incentives for 2025, these are not just policy updates. Collectively, they are a roadmap to where funded trading trends are heading: tighter drawdown rules, more constraints on ultra-short-term tactics like scalping, and bigger rewards for traders who can show consistent, professional behaviour—especially in the U.S. prop firm market. For a broader framework on how to pick firms in the first place, you may want to pair this article with our ultimate guide to choosing the best prop trading firm.

We have grouped the latest rule changes into three major shifts and added a U.S. market spotlight. The goal is simple: help you adjust before you buy your next challenge.

Snapshot: 2025 Prop Firm Rule Changes at a Glance

Before diving into the three shifts, here is a compact snapshot of the key rule changes driving today’s prop firm rule changes discussion:

Shift 1: The Strategy Purge – Out with Scalping, In with Consistency

The first and most visible shift in prop firm rule changes is a deliberate move against ultra-short-term, “gaming-the-system” strategies. Firms are increasingly designing rules that favour consistent, time-resilient trading over micro-scalping and aggressive martingale tactics.

Key Rules Driving the Strategy Purge

• Top One Trader – Minimum Hold Time (Oct 14, 2025): All profitable trades must now be held for at least 5 minutes. Closing earlier is a rule violation. This directly targets scalping, latency and arbitrage tactics that rely on seconds, not minutes.
• Maven Trading – Martingale Rule Removal (Nov 10, 2025): Previously limited from opening multiple positions in drawdown on the same pair, traders can now open up to five simultaneous positions in drawdown. The firm has removed a hard anti-martingale restriction—but under the backdrop of tighter drawdown rules across the industry.
• Instant Funding – IF1 Ultra-Fast Program (Nov 5, 2025): A 24-hour “sprint” account: 3% profit target, 2% daily drawdown, 4% overall loss, news trading allowed. This is a niche product for very active traders, but with extremely tight margins for error.

What This Means for Your Trading Style

The message to traders is clear:

• If your strategy depends on seconds-long trades, ultra-tight stops, or stacking correlated positions in a martingale ladder, many leading firms are now structurally hostile to that approach.
• Firms want to see trades that survive normal market noise, slippage and execution variance, not just idealised backtest behaviour.
• This is less about “banning scalpers” and more about enforcing robustness: trades that last minutes or hours, with risk parameters that could survive on real capital.

AI-powered enforcement is here: most larger firms are no longer relying on slow, manual review of trade histories. Rule changes like the 5-minute minimum hold time are backed by automated, algorithmic monitoring that flags micro-arbitrage, latency exploits and other non-market-driven activity in real time. Your system cannot just be profitable; it has to be structurally clean and “algorithm-proof” if you want it to survive this kind of automated scrutiny.

Actionable Advice: Surviving the Strategy Purge

• Extend your holding horizon: Design entries and exits that comfortably respect 5–15 minute minimum hold rules where they exist. If a trade is invalid within 30 seconds, it is probably too fragile for today’s prop environment.
• Rebuild martingale-style systems: If you were relying on doubling into drawdown, reframe your approach around fixed fractional or volatility-based sizing. Treat “up to five positions” as a diversification tool, not an excuse to over-leverage.
• Backtest against rule constraints, not just price: When you test, include the firm’s minimum hold time, news restrictions, and session limits in the logic. A strategy that only works when you ignore those rules is not a viable prop strategy in 2025.

Shift 2: The Tighter Leash – Institutional-Style Risk Management

The second major trend in funded trading trends is a move toward risk models that look more like institutional trading desks: slightly narrower loss limits, more consistent enforcement, and tighter control over early payouts on large accounts.

Key Drawdown and Risk Rule Changes

• Finotive Funding (Nov 4, 2025): For the 2-phase challenge, daily loss reduced from 5% to 4.5%, and max loss from 10% to 9%. On paper, the change looks small; in practice, it reduces the number of full-R losses you can absorb in a row.
• Top One Trader (Nov 3, 2025): 2-Step challenge maximums tightened from 5% daily / 10% max to 4% daily / 8% max. Combined with the new minimum hold rule, this squeezes both aggressiveness and ultra-short-term behaviour.
• Instant Funding – IF1 (Nov 5, 2025): Daily drawdown of 2% and overall loss limit of 4%, with just 24 hours to perform. This is effectively an institutional stress-test of your ability to survive under very tight risk constraints.
• AquaFunded (Nov 4, 2025): For accounts of 200K and above, the first two withdrawals are capped at $10,000 each, with any extra profits deducted from the account balance. That moderates early cash outflows on large funded accounts.

What This Means for Your Risk Model

The days when 10% max drawdown felt like a loose standard are fading. You now have:

• Smaller buffers between your strategy and a rule breach.
• Less room for “revenge trading” or doubling size after losses.
• More pressure to think like a risk manager first and a signal-hunter second.

If you want a deeper dive into how different risk engines behave under balance-based, equity-based and trailing models, see our dedicated explainer on balance-based vs equity-based drawdown in prop firms.

Actionable Advice: Recalibrate Around Tighter Drawdown Rules

• Cut per-trade risk: If you have been risking 1–2% of the account per trade, consider stepping down to 0.5%–0.75%. With 4% daily and 8–9% max drawdown, this gives you room to survive normal losing streaks.
• Model DD rules explicitly in your backtest: When you backtest, simulate both a daily and an overall drawdown limit. Track how often your system would have violated those rules even if it is profitable in pure equity terms.
• Track intra-day equity swings: If a firm measures drawdown on equity (not just closed balance), you must understand how floating losses interact with your open risk. A technically “good” trade that goes –3R before coming back may be untradeable under certain drawdown rules.
• For large accounts, plan your payouts: If you are aiming for 200k+ accounts with capped early rewards (like AquaFunded), build payout caps into your mental model. Think of those first payouts as proving runs, not a full cash-out. For more on how reward schedules really behave, read our deep dive into daily payouts and prop firm reality.
• Leverage AI for predictive drawdown control: With tighter limits, real-time risk modelling becomes critical. Many traders now use advanced journaling platforms and AI-backed analytics that estimate the probability of breaching your daily or max drawdown based on current volatility and open risk. If you struggle with a 4% daily loss limit, consider integrating AI-driven risk controls to automate position sizing, session limits and hard stops based on your own historical metrics.

Shift 3: The Talent Wars – Better Incentives for Consistency

As rules tighten, the best prop firm incentives are being aimed at a smaller group: traders who can consistently operate within these constraints. The “carrot” side of the carrot-and-stick model is getting more attractive.

Key Incentive and Scaling Changes

• Lark Funding – 1-Step Career Program (Nov 16, 2025): The 1-Step program evolves into a Career Program with:
  • Monthly salary up to $1,000, even while in drawdown.
  • Free retry (two total attempts per evaluation).
  • AI journal & coach plus a 30-day TradingView subscription.
• Finotive Funding – Profit Split Upgrade (Nov 4, 2025): Profit splits across all programs increased by 5% (e.g., Challenge and Pro to 80%, Instant tiers up to 70–75%).
• ATFunded – Higher Max Allocation (Nov 4, 2025): Maximum allocation limit boosted from $200K to $500K, improving the scaling ceiling for consistent traders.
• AquaFunded – Structured Payout Caps (Nov 4, 2025): While capping early withdrawals on large accounts, the policy effectively stretches the lifespan of big funded accounts, making them more sustainable for long-term traders.

What This Means for Your Long-Term Plan

These changes send a strong signal: firms are not just monetizing challenge fees; they are competing for career-grade traders who treat funded accounts as a business, not a lottery ticket.

• Higher profit splits and bigger allocation caps mean that if you are consistent, your upside is better than it was a year or two ago.
• Salary-style programs and built-in tools (journals, TradingView, coaching) are designed to keep you trading with one firm rather than hopping constantly.
• Early payout caps on big accounts encourage steady growth instead of “hit it hard, cash out, and disappear” behaviour.

AI as a trader perk: the most forward-thinking prop firms are also bundling AI and advanced analytics into these packages. Offers like Lark Funding’s AI journal and coach are early examples of a wider trend: funded traders getting access to institutional-grade tooling for journaling, predictive analytics and strategy optimisation. When you compare firms, treat built-in AI tools as part of the compensation package, not just a nice-to-have add-on.

Actionable Advice: Position Yourself in the Talent Wars

• Prioritise scaling and stability over gimmicks: When comparing offers, ask: “What does this firm offer me if I am still profitable here two years from now?” Higher allocations, career programs, and reliable payout history should trump flashy marketing. If you are early in your journey, compare these policies with our overview of beginner-friendly prop firm challenges to see which models are easier to grow with.
• Negotiate with your track record: If you can show consistent results over multiple evaluations or funded accounts, you are in a strong position. Some firms will offer custom scaling, better splits or private deal terms to keep you.
• Think in portfolio terms: Instead of chasing every new promotion, build a small portfolio of firms where the rule set, drawdown rules, and incentives genuinely match your style. If budget is a constraint, our guide to the most affordable prop firm challenges can help you benchmark costs against the rule sets discussed here.

GEO Spotlight: U.S. Prop Firm Access 2025

The U.S. market has been at the centre of regulatory uncertainty for prop firms, especially around CFD access. In that context, any change in access is a major signal for traders and firms alike.

• FundedNext – U.S. CFD Access Reopened (Nov 4, 2025): FundedNext has reopened access to its CFD trading programs for U.S. traders, with:
  • 1-Step, 2-Step and Lite Challenges available.
  • Up to 95% profit share.
  • No time limits and news trading allowed on many setups.
  • Performance rewards target processing within 24 hours (with an extra bonus if delayed).

For U.S. traders, this is more than a single firm’s decision. It signals that some players believe they can navigate the cross-border compliance required to offer CFD-style prop funding to U.S. clients. It also suggests that U.S. demand remains strong enough to justify the legal and operational complexity. For a wider look at how search engines and GEO filters steer U.S. traders toward different firms, see our piece on how traders should research prop firms in an AI-first world.

Actionable Advice: If You Trade from the U.S.

• Check access and instruments first: Before comparing profit splits, confirm whether a firm actually serves U.S. residents and which instruments (CFDs, futures, forex) you can use.
• Read the legal section, not just the marketing page: Terms of service, risk disclosures and FAQs often reveal more about U.S. access than promotional copy.
• Prepare for ongoing change: U.S. access is likely to evolve as regulators and firms refine their positions. Build flexibility into your plan—do not rely on a single prop firm for all your trading capacity.

Practical Checklist: Adapting to 2025 Prop Firm Rules

Here is a simple checklist to align your strategy with the current wave of prop firm rule changes:

• 1. Map your strategy against rule constraints. For each firm, list:
  • Minimum hold time (if any).
  • Daily and overall drawdown rules (including whether they are balance- or equity-based).
  • News and session restrictions.
  • Payout caps and scaling rules.
• 2. Recalculate risk per trade for each environment. Backtest your system using the actual drawdown rules for that firm (4%/8%, 4.5%/9%, 2%/4%, etc.), not generic “10% max DD” assumptions.
• 3. Decide which incentives matter to you. Are you optimising for:
  • Highest profit split?
  • Largest maximum allocation?
  • Monthly salary and tools?
  • Best U.S. prop firm access if you are a U.S. trader?
  Rank firms according to those priorities, not just social media hype.
• 4. Treat evaluations like a professional risk mandate. Use the same discipline you would use if the capital were entirely your own—because from the firm’s perspective, that is exactly the behaviour they are trying to filter for.

Closing: The New Profile of the Winning Trader

So, is the prop firm world getting harder, or smarter?

Look across these changes and you will see a classic carrot-and-stick model emerging:

• The Stick: Stricter controls on non-professional trading methods (minimum hold times, rule changes aimed at scalping and martingale) and tighter, more institutional drawdowns.
• The Carrot: Higher profit splits, bigger allocation caps, salary-style perks, better tools and, in some cases, expanded access for U.S. traders.

The winning trader of 2025 is not the fastest scalper or the most aggressive risk-taker. It is the trader who:

• Understands the fine print as well as the chart.
• Builds a strategy that survives tighter drawdown rules and longer hold requirements.
• Chooses firms for their long-term incentives and stability, not just their first marketing headline.

Ready to adapt to the new rules?

Which of these three major shifts—strategy purge, tighter risk, or talent wars—do you need to adjust your trading for the most? Your answer will likely decide which prop firm you succeed with in 2025 and beyond.