The Best Prop Firms for Scalping in 2026
Most prop firms say scalping is allowed. The catch is in the fine print: minimum hold times that can wipe out your profits on review, and news rules that make you go flat at the worst moment.
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Short answer: for forex scalping, FTMO is the most often recommended: no meaningful minimum hold time. For futures, Topstep, Apex, Bulenox and FTMO Futures are reported to have no minimum hold time. Tradeify and Lucid have hold-time rules you need to read first.
The two rules that matter to scalpers
- Minimum hold timeSome firms require trades, or a share of your profit, to come from trades held longer than a set time. Trades that break it can be removed from your profit when you ask for a payout.
- News rulesSome firms make you be flat for a few minutes around major releases, or cap how much profit can come from news trading.
- Drawdown typeShort trades still move the floor on intraday trailing drawdown. End-of-day or static drawdown is still safer.
- Daily loss limitScalpers take many trades. A tight daily limit can end your day after a bad run.
Futures firms
| Firm | Minimum hold time | News trading |
|---|---|---|
| Topstep | None reported | Allowed, but you can't trade your full maximum position into a major scheduled release |
| Apex | None reported (sources conflict) | Check the current rules |
| Bulenox | None reported | No news blackout reported |
| FTMO Futures | None reported | Allowed in every phase |
| Tradeify | Yes: on funded accounts, 50% of trades and profit must come from trades held over 10 seconds | No news blackout reported |
| Lucid Trading | Has a hold-time rule. Read it before you scalp | Check the current rules |
| My Funded Futures | Not reported as a restriction | Funded Rapid and Pro accounts must be flat 2 minutes either side of Tier 1 releases |
Forex and CFD firms
| Firm | Minimum hold time | News trading |
|---|---|---|
| FTMO | No meaningful restriction | Check the rules for your account type |
| FundingPips | None reported | Check the current rules |
| E8 Markets | None reported | Check the current rules |
| FundedNext | Not reported as a restriction | Allowed, but at most 40% of your profit can come from news trading |
Before you scalp a funded account
- Search the rulebook for "minimum", "hold", "seconds", "news" and "high-frequency". These clauses are often buried in the payout terms, not the evaluation rules.
- Check whether rules change at funding. Several firms allow something in the evaluation and restrict it on the funded account.
- Mind the drawdown. Scalping NQ on intraday trailing drawdown still moves your floor with every open-profit peak. I lost Apex accounts to exactly that, and I now only buy end-of-day.
Related: Trailing vs end-of-day drawdown · Best prop firms in 2026
Risk warning: most traders fail prop firm evaluations. Payouts can be denied for breaking hold-time or news rules. Nothing here is financial advice.