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πŸ“˜ EA Challenge – FAQ & Rules

Please read this to understand the rules of the challenge.

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Written by Sure Leverage Funding
Updated over a week ago

Overview

What is the EA Challenge?
The EA Challenge is designed for traders who want to use Expert Advisors (EAs), including high-frequency trading robots, during the challenge phase only.

  • Profit Target: 6%

  • Maximum Drawdown: 8% (trailing high-watermark)

  • Daily Drawdown: 4%

  • Profit Consistency Rule: 25%

⚠️ Once you are funded, EAs are no longer allowed.


Trading Rules

Expert Advisors (EAs)

  • Allowed during the challenge phase only.

  • Not permitted once you reach the funded phase.

Stop Losses

  • A stop-loss is mandatory in funded accounts and must be set within 5 minutes of trade entry.

  • Not required during the challenge phase, but strongly recommended.

  • Fake stop-losses are prohibited (e.g., placing a SL that, if hit, would cause losses greater than daily/max drawdown).

News Trading

  • News trading is allowed during both evaluation and funded phases.

Copy Trading

  • Not permitted on EA Challenge accounts.

Averaging Into Trades

  • Allowed, but trades in the same direction on the same pair (within a short timeframe) are treated as one Trade Idea.

  • Trade Ideas are used for Profit Consistency and Lot Consistency checks.

Tick Scalping

  • Please avoid any attempts at tick scalping, and keep trades open for over 2 minutes.


Consistency Rules

Profit Consistency Rule (from 15th June 2025)

  • No single trading day may equal or exceed 25% of your total profit for that payout period.

  • Example: If you make $1,250 in one day, you must reach $5,000 total profit before you are eligible to request a payout.

  • Profit caps apply when calculating the 25% threshold.

  • Payout requests cannot be made until this rule is satisfied.

Lot Size Consistency

  • Checked at the time of payout.

  • Based on your average trade size:

    • Max lot = average + 100%

    • Min lot = average – 75%

  • Example: Avg 1 lot β†’ max 2 lots, min 0.25 lots.

❗ Multiple trades in the same direction on the same pair, opened close together, are treated as one Trade Idea. Lots and profit are combined.


Drawdown & Targets

Overall Drawdown (Trailing to Fixed)

  • Max drawdown = 8% of the highest balance or equity.

  • Drawdown trails until you reach 6% profit, then it is fixed at starting balance.

Example:

  • On a $100,000 account, max drawdown = $92,000.

  • Once balance reaches $106,000, drawdown is locked at $100,000.

⚠️ Withdrawals reduce buffer:

  • If you withdraw $4,000 (4%), your remaining drawdown buffer is only 4%.

  • Always leave enough margin to cover the maximum drawdown.

Maximum Daily Loss (Daily Drawdown)

  • The maximum daily loss is 4% of the initial account balance.

  • Each day at 5pm EST, we calculate your new daily loss limit by taking the higher of your account balance or equity, then subtracting 4% of the initial balance.

Example 1 – With Floating Profit

  • On a $100,000 account, if at 5pm EST you have a floating profit of $2,000, your equity is $102,000.

  • The next day, your equity cannot drop below $98,000.

Example 2 – With Floating Loss

  • On a $100,000 account, if at 5pm EST you have a floating loss of –$1,000, your equity is $99,000.

  • Since your $100,000 balance is higher, the daily drawdown is based on that.

  • The next day, your equity cannot fall below $96,000.


Payouts

Profit Splits

  • Payouts increase over time:

    • 1st withdrawal: 50%

    • 2nd withdrawal: 55%

    • 3rd withdrawal: 60%

    • 4th withdrawal: 65%

    • 5th withdrawal: 70%

    • 6th withdrawal onward: 80%

Payout Schedule

  • 1st payout: 4 weeks after purchase.

  • Subsequent payouts: every 2 weeks.

Withdrawal Limits

  • Max withdrawal per cycle = 5% of initial balance.

    • Example: On a $200,000 account, max withdrawal = $10,000 per cycle.

Profit Cap

  • Profit cap = 5% of initial balance.

  • If you exceed the cap, profits above it are not counted toward withdrawals.

Instant Payouts

  • ❌ Not available on the EA Challenge.

  • Available only on the 1 Step, 2 Step, and Instant Funding challenges.

24-Hour Payout Guarantee

  • Once requested, payouts are processed within 24 business hours.

  • If delayed, you’ll receive an extra 10% on your profit split.

  • Exceptions include weekends, holidays, compliance checks, or delays in Rise onboarding.


Rule Breaches & Payout Denials

Soft Breaches (Profit Deductions)

  • If you break a rule (e.g., Lot Consistency, Stop Loss rule, or other restrictions), the profit from that trade is deducted from your total profit.

  • If deductions are less than your profit, the reduced payout is still processed.

  • If deductions are greater than your profit (e.g., $3,000 profit but $4,000 deducted), your payout is denied.

  • You have a maximum of 20 soft breaches before account closure, this is detected at payout stage. Not automatically

  • If you have 50% or more of trades being soft breached, your payout will be declined. For example, if you have 15 trades and 10 of them are in breach of our rules, the payout will be declined

Payout Denial Penalties

  • 1st denial: profit split halved.

  • 2nd denial: account closed.

Floating Loss Rule (from 15th June 2025)

  • If your account equity ever falls more than 1% below the starting balance (including floating losses, swaps, and commissions), penalties will apply:

    • 1st breach: Profit split is halved.

    • 2nd breach: account closed.

Example:
On a $100,000 account, if your starting balance is $100,000 and you have two trades open that together push your equity below $99,000 (a 1% floating loss), the system will register a breach. After the second breach, the account will be closed.

⚠️ This rule applies only to accounts purchased after 15th June 2025.


Resets

Free Reset

  • ❌ Not available on the EA Challenge.

  • Only available on the 1 Step Challenge.

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