You need at least 5 trading days and 5 closed trades in every evaluation step, and again before a payout. A trading day is a UTC calendar day on which a trade was closed or a position was open, and a trade only counts once it is closed.
Key takeaways
- The minimum is 5 trading days and 5 closed trades per step, on all three programs.
- A trading day is a distinct UTC calendar day on which you closed a trade or had a position open.
- Trades are counted when they close. Five positions still open are zero trades.
- The same 5 and 5 appear again in the payout conditions on the funded account.
What the rules page says
The rule sits in two places on the trading rules page. In the challenge table it reads as minimum activity per step: "5 days, 5 trades", described as the trading days and closed trades required in a step before it can be passed. In the account and payout terms it is split into two lines.
| Minimum trading days | 5 | Distinct UTC calendar days on which a trade was closed or a position was open, required before a payout. |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum trades | 5 | Total closed trades required before a payout. |
| Minimum activity per step | 5 days, 5 trades | Required in a step before it can be passed. |
The two numbers are separate conditions. Meeting one does not cover the other.
What counts as a trading day
The definition is short: a distinct UTC calendar day on which a trade was closed or a position was open. Three things follow from it.
First, the clock is UTC, not your local time. The day runs from 00:00 UTC to midnight UTC. A trade you close at 01:30 local time in a UTC+3 time zone is closed on the previous UTC day.
Second, "distinct" means ten trades closed on the same day still add up to one trading day. Volume on a single day does not shorten the count.
Third, a day spent watching the chart with no position open and no trade closed is not a trading day, however long the screen was on.
Holding overnight does not stretch the count. Positions still open past 22:00 UTC breach the account, so in practice a position is rarely open on more than one UTC day. The overnight and weekend rules explain the cutoff and the rollover hour.
What counts as a trade
A closed trade. The payout line says "total closed trades", and the step line says "closed trades". A position you opened and are still holding is not yet a trade for this rule.
Every trade you place to reach the count is still checked against every other rule. A position closed in under 3 seconds breaches the high-frequency rule. A position with no stop-loss for more than 10 minutes breaches the stop-loss grace. There is no category of small "activity" trades that the rules ignore.
How it applies on each program
The minimum is per step, so the total depends on the program.
| 2-Step Challenge | 2 steps | 5 trading days and 5 closed trades in Step 1, then again in Step 2. |
|---|---|---|
| 1-Step Challenge | 1 step | 5 trading days and 5 closed trades in the one step. |
| Pay After You Pass | 1 step | The same one-step evaluation as the 1-Step Challenge. |
On the 2-Step Challenge that means at least ten trading days across the whole evaluation. The rules page describes the minimum as required "in a step", so days traded in Step 1 are not carried into Step 2.
After you pass, the funded account has its own payout conditions, and 5 trading days and 5 closed trades are among them. The rules page does not say whether that count restarts after each payout or runs over the whole life of the account. It says "at least 5 trading days and 5 closed trades on the account". The full list is in payout conditions, one by one.
A worked example on a €50,000 1-Step Challenge
On a €50,000 account the 5% target is €2,500. While you evaluate, the daily loss limit is 5%, which is €2,500, and the overall limit is 12%, which is €6,000.
Say you open and close three positions on Monday and two on Tuesday, and by Tuesday evening the account is up €2,500. You have 5 closed trades. You have 2 trading days. The step cannot be passed yet.
You still need three more UTC days with a position open or a trade closed. Those days are traded under the same limits as the first two. A loss on Wednesday counts against the daily and overall limits exactly like any other loss, and it also reduces the profit you had toward the target.
The rules page lists the target and the minimum activity as two conditions for passing a step. It does not describe the order in which they are met. Treat the extra days as normal trading days, not as a formality.
One more thing can hold the pass: no single day may make up more than 50% of total profit. In this example Monday or Tuesday may carry more than half of the €2,500. That never fails the account. The pass waits until profit is spread across more days, which the three extra days may do.
Hitting the target early does not end the step; the calendar of trading days still has to fill.
Why there is no rush to fill the count
No step has a deadline. The only clock is the inactivity rule: more than 5 days, counted in full 24-hour periods with weekends included, without opening or closing a trade fails the account. The count runs from your last trade, or from activation if you have not traded yet. Between those two rules you can spread the five trading days over as many weeks as you like, as long as no gap between trades runs past 5 days. The no time limit and inactivity article covers that clock.
Your account is a Simulated Demo Trading Account, sold as a digital product. Breaching any rule fails it, with no warning and no partial penalty, and that includes the rules you trade under while you are building up days.
Frequently asked questions
Does a day count if I only close a position on it?
Yes. The rules page defines a trading day as a distinct UTC calendar day on which a trade was closed or a position was open. A day on which you close a trade counts, and so does a day on which a position was open.
Do five trades on one day meet the rule?
They meet the 5 closed trades, not the 5 trading days. Five trades closed on the same UTC day are one trading day, so you still need four more days with a trade closed or a position open.
Do my Step 1 days count toward Step 2?
The minimum is stated per step: 5 trading days and 5 closed trades in a step before it can be passed. On the 2-Step Challenge you meet it in Step 1 and again in Step 2. See the trading rules.
Is there a maximum number of trades?
The rules page sets no maximum trade count. Every trade is still checked against the other rules, such as the 3-second minimum hold time, the grid limit of 5 positions per symbol and the lot-size limits.
Read the rules, then pick a program
Every rule that can fail an account is published in full before you pay. Three programs, five sizes, an 80% reward and no time limit on any step.