Review
Corporate Profile, Institutional Backing, and Operational Restrictions
Blueberry Funded (BBF) is a funding program launched in August 2024 that has positioned itself in the market with a distinctive feature: it is directly backed by the globally regulated broker Blueberry. This operational model, known as broker-backed, means that BBF accesses Tier 1 liquidity, which is fundamental for the simulated trading environment it offers its participants.
The firm’s management has a combined experience of over 50 years in the Forex and proprietary trading sectors. This history is used as a foundation to establish evaluation plans and operational parameters optimized for risk management and long-term consistency. The direct connection with a regulated broker suggests a strong focus on sustainability, seeking to ensure that their traders’ performance is replicable and profitable in an institutional environment. This contrasts with models that primarily depend on challenge fees, and directs BBF towards seeking long-lasting partnerships with disciplined traders.
Prime 2-Step Challenge
The Prime Challenge is the firm’s standard evaluation path, characterized by being flexible in time and competitive in profit sharing. This plan operates with no time limit and requires a minimum of 5 trading days to complete the phases. The initial profit split is set at 80%, with the possibility of scaling up to 90%. The general leverage for Forex in these accounts is 1:30.
Table: Key Parameters of the Prime 2-Step Challenge
| Account Size (Sim.) | Phase 1 Target (8%) | Phase 2 Target (6%) | Maximum Daily Loss (4%) | Maximum Total Loss (10%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $5,000 | $400 | $300 | $200 | $500 |
| $10,000 | $800 | $600 | $400 | $1,000 |
| $25,000 | $2,000 | $1,500 | $1,000 | $2,500 |
| $50,000 | $4,000 | $3,000 | $2,000 | $5,000 |
| $100,000 | $8,000 | $6,000 | $4,000 | $10,000 |
1-Step Challenge and Rapid Challenge (Static vs. Trailing Drawdown)
The firm uses different Drawdown mechanisms for its plans, allowing traders to choose a risk profile that matches their trading style. The distinction between Drawdown limits in the different plans reveals how BBF calibrates risk for each product.
The 1-Step and Prime 2-Step plans use a Static Drawdown based on the initial balance. The 1-Step Challenge accelerates the process by requiring only one phase but imposes a stricter maximum total loss limit of 6% (while maintaining the maximum daily loss at 4%).
In contrast, the Rapid Challenge implements a stricter loss limit and uses a Trailing Drawdown of 4%. This trailing limit adjusts upwards as the trader gains profit, but never reduces. Once the trader reaches significant gains, the loss limit remains close to the peak capital reached. This mechanism forces the trader to adopt a more conservative capital management after generating profits, which is indicative of a plan designed for very low-risk and high-consistency profiles.
Table: Comparison of Loss Parameters by Challenge
| Challenge | Maximum Daily Loss | Maximum Total Loss | Maximum Loss Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prime 2-Step | 4% | 10% | Static (Based on initial balance) [8, 9] |
| 1-Step Challenge | 4% | 6% | Static (Based on initial balance) |
| Rapid Challenge | 3% | 4% | Trailing Drawdown |
Instant Funding and Synthetic Challenge
Other plans offered include Instant Funding and Synthetic Challenge. It is crucial to highlight that Instant Funding accounts operate under a zero-tolerance rule. Traders in these plans do not receive warnings for violations; any breach, intentional or not, results in immediate account termination, which underscores the high operational risk of this option. Furthermore, Synthetic Challenge accounts have a higher minimum withdrawal requirement, set at $200, compared to the $100 minimum for the other plans.
Trading Rules and Operational Discipline
Blueberry Funded’s trading rules are aimed at eliminating high-risk and rapid speculation behaviors, seeking a trader profile that demonstrates discipline and long-term sustainability.
Strategic Prohibitions and Anti-Gambling Rule
The Anti-Gambling Rule is exhaustive and classifies several practices as serious violations, as they alter the quality of the trading data the firm needs to operate.
The following “gambling” strategies are explicitly prohibited:
- Martingale: Any strategy involving progressively increasing lot size after losses is banned, including doubling the position when it moves against you or pyramiding positions with increasing size during a drawdown.
- Excessive Scalping and HFT: Defined as holding 50% or more of trades for less than one minute. This includes both Tick Scalping and High-Frequency Trading (HFT).
- All-In Trading Behavior: The firm prohibits committing an excessively large portion of the account capital in a single trade or series of trades without adequate risk management (example: trading without a stop loss). This behavior is considered a form of gambling and results in a hard breach.
- Grid Trading: Placing multiple trades at fixed intervals without a clear risk management strategy is prohibited.
- Reverse Hand Post Taking Losses (Cooldown): To prevent the trader from chasing losses, it is prohibited to enter a position in the opposite direction of a newly closed losing trade. The trader must wait a minimum of 5 minutes before taking an opposite position on the same asset. This measure is designed to ensure that trading decisions are strategic and not impulsive, protecting the integrity of the performance evaluation.
If the use of prohibited strategies is detected, the trader will not be able to advance to the funded phase. If the violation occurs in a Profit Account, the payout will be denied, and the account will be reset to Phase 1.
Lot Size and Stacking Restrictions
To enforce adequate diversification and prevent concentrated overexposure, BBF has established strict limits on position stacking.
- The maximum limit is 4 simultaneous positions on the same asset pair (e.g., 4 positions on EURUSD).
- The total limit is 7 simultaneous positions across all combined assets.
The purpose of this restriction is to prevent traders from circumventing lot size limitations by dividing large trades into multiple small positions, thus ensuring transparent and diversified risk management.
High-Impact News Trading Rule
The news trading policy is one of the strictest in the industry, applied in both the evaluation and the funded account. The goal is to protect the trader and the firm from extreme volatility and slippage during critical macroeconomic events.
The restriction window is set at 2 minutes before and 2 minutes after the release of high-impact news (red folder). Within this window, the trader cannot open, close, modify, or allow pending orders to be activated (including Stop-Loss and Take-Profit).
The affected instruments are determined by the currency of the news event. For example, news related to the USD restricts trading in all USD pairs, Gold (XAU/USD), Oil (XTI/USD, XBR/USD), Indices (US30, SP500, US100), and Cryptocurrencies (BTC/USD, ETH/USD). Similar restrictions apply to pairs related to EUR, GBP, JPY, and CAD.
There is an important exception for swing traders: if a position was opened at least 6 hours before the news event and the Stop Loss is triggered during the restricted window, this action will not be considered a violation. If the violation occurs in a funded account, the profits from those trades will be eliminated, and recurrence may result in payment cancellation or account breach.
Use of EAs, Copy Trading, and Position Management
Blueberry Funded allows the use of Expert Advisors (EAs) and bots. However, this permissiveness comes with the explicit prohibition of algorithmic strategies that exploit latency vulnerabilities, including High-Frequency Trading (HFT), data feed manipulation, latency arbitrage, and hedge arbitrage.
Regarding Copy Trading, it is permitted only to copy strategies between accounts owned by the trader themselves. The use of signals or account management through third-party Copy Traders is prohibited. Finally, the firm allows maintaining open positions overnight and over weekends in all phases and account types. Although the use of a Stop Loss on every trade is not mandatory, it is strongly recommended as a risk management practice.
Technical Aspects, Instruments, and Brokerage Conditions
Trading Platforms and Environment
Blueberry Funded aims to offer technological flexibility to its traders by supporting multiple industry-leading platforms:
- MetaTrader 4 and 5 (Platform 4 and 5): Available for PC (Windows and Mac), mobile (iOS and Android), and WebTrader.
- TraderLocker and Dx Trade: Also available for PC, mobile, and WebTrader.
Traders who wish to change platforms (for example, from Dx Trade to Tradelocker) can request it only once per account, and this request must be made before any trading activity has been executed on the account. Once trading begins, the platform is fixed.
Tradable Financial Instruments and Leverage
The instruments available for trading with BBF are the full suite offered by Blueberry Markets, which includes Forex, Cryptocurrencies, Metals, Energy, and Index Products.
Leverage varies significantly depending on the asset class, implementing more conservative limits for more volatile instruments like Cryptocurrencies.
Table: Maximum Leverage per Asset Class
| Asset Class | Maximum Leverage |
|---|---|
| Currency Pairs (Forex) | 1:30 |
| Indices | 1:10 |
| Metals / Commodities (Energy) | 1:10 |
| Cryptocurrencies | 1:2 |
Commissions, Spreads, and Swaps
BBF uses a cost structure that reflects access to institutional-level liquidity, offering raw spreads starting from 0.1 pips.
The firm charges commissions per standard lot at the time of trade execution (i.e., applied to both opening and closing the position).
Table: Trading Commission Structure
| Instrument | Commission per Standard Lot (Round Turn) |
|---|---|
| FX Pairs and XAU/xxx (Gold) | USD $7 3 |
| US Stocks | USD $2 |
In addition to commissions, traders may incur Swap Fees (overnight financing charges) if they hold positions open overnight. A triple Swap is also applied on a specific day of the week to account for interest accrued over the weekend.
Payouts, Funding, and Scalability Plan
Profit Split and Withdrawal Frequency
The profit split starts at 80% for the trader and can be increased up to 90% through the scalability plan.
The payout frequency follows a defined structure: the initial payout is available 14 days after the first trade in the Earnings Account. Subsequent payouts can be requested 14 days after the previous payout approval. Traders have the option to purchase an add-on when buying the challenge to access payouts every 7 days.
To request a payout, minimum operational requirements must be met:
- Minimum of 3 trading days, with at least 0.5% closed profit per day.
- Minimum withdrawal amount of $100 ($200 for Synthetic accounts).
Payment and Withdrawal Methods
The firm supports multiple payment methods for purchasing challenges, including Credit/Debit Card, Cryptocurrencies (only StableCoins like USDT and USDC via BoomFi or Confirmo), and local options like UPI (for India). It is important to note that full refunds are only granted if the payment was made by credit/debit card and if no trade has been placed on the account within 14 days of purchase.
For withdrawals (payouts), Blueberry Funded partners with RiseWorks as its main processing channel. Furthermore, they offer Cryptocurrency withdrawals, specifically via USDC and USDT-TRC-20. There is a crucial limit for crypto payouts: they are only permitted for amounts up to $2,000. Withdrawal amounts exceeding $2,000 are mandatorily channeled through RiseWorks. The limitation on crypto payouts and the preference for RiseWorks for large sums indicate a focus on compliance with AML/KYC regulations for large capital transfers, reinforcing the firm’s image as an entity with regulated financial processes.
The Scaling Plan
BBF’s Scaling Plan is designed to encourage consistency and disciplined growth, allowing traders to increase their simulated capital up to a maximum of $2,000,000 and increase their profit split up to 90%.
The capital increase occurs in increments of 25% every 3 months. To be eligible for scalability, the trader must meet two criteria simultaneously over a cycle of 3 consecutive months:
- Generate at least a 10% net profit.
- Process at least 4 payouts within that same 3-month period.
The requirement to process 4 payouts, in addition to achieving the profit target, transforms the scaling approach. This not only measures total profit but demands a demonstration of realized and consistent positive cash flow. This rigor reflects the need of institutional investors to see risk management that includes disciplined profit-taking, vital for sustainable capital growth.
Table: Scaling Plan Progression (Example for a $200,000 Initial Balance)
| Time Elapsed | Initial Balance (Quarter) | Scaled Balance | Profit Split (Potential) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 months | $200,000 | $200,000 | 80% |
| 3 months | $200,000 | $250,000 | 80% (or more) |
| 6 months | $250,000 | $300,000 | Progressive |
| 12 months | $350,000 | $400,000 | Progressive |
| Límite | N/A | $2,000,000 | Up to 90% |
Support, Verification, and Restricted Countries
Blueberry Funded guarantees 24/7 support availability through its email (support@blueberryfunded.com) and its Help Center.
The identity verification process, known as KYC (Know Your Customer), is mandatory but is activated only when the trader has passed the evaluation phase and received the credentials for their Earnings Account. Access to the verification process is enabled within 24 hours of completing Phase 2 of the challenge. To complete the KYC, the firm uses Veriff, a third-party verification provider. Required documents include a government-issued photo ID and proof of address which must be current and clearly legible.
Despite operating globally, BBF maintains geographical restrictions for the purchase of evaluations, attributed to regulatory and compliance considerations. The exclusion of markets with strict supervision, such as the United States and Australia, suggests that the firm has made strategic decisions to operate within a compliance framework that aligns with its broker’s regulatory scope.
Table: Restricted Countries for Evaluation Purchase
| Restricted Country | Important Notes |
|---|---|
| United States | Evaluation purchase restricted |
| Australia | Evaluation purchase restricted |
| Cuba | Evaluation purchase restricted |
| Iran | Evaluation purchase restricted |
| Iraq | Evaluation purchase restricted |
| Myanmar | Evaluation purchase restricted |
| North Korea | Evaluation purchase restricted |
| Russia | Evaluation purchase restricted |
| Somalia | Evaluation purchase restricted |
| Syria | Evaluation purchase restricted |
| Yemen | Evaluation purchase restricted |
| Afghanistan | Evaluation purchase restricted |
| United Arab Emirates (UAE) | Exception: Permitted if residing in UAE but having residency in another unrestricted country |
IP Rules and Use of VPN/VPS
Blueberry Funded imposes a rigorous policy regarding the access IP address, designed to ensure the integrity and fairness of the trading environment.
The most notable rule is the restriction per household: only one account per household is allowed access from the same IP address. This means that if two people reside at the same address, only one of them can own and operate a BBF account. This policy’s main objective is to prevent arbitrage and system exploitation that could arise from collusion by multiple individuals or the use of low-latency strategies.
The use of Virtual Private Networks (VPN) or Virtual Private Servers (VPS) is permitted, but only if they use a Static IP. Any attempt to mask the IP address or the reason for the trade, such as employing technology that makes a VPS trade appear as mobile, is considered a hard breach. Additionally, traders are required to notify the company via email with their travel itinerary if they plan to trade from different countries, as rapid and geographically impossible changes in the IP address are considered a violation of good faith policies.
Strengths of Blueberry Funded
The main strength of Blueberry Funded lies in its broker-backed structure, which gives it superior credibility in terms of execution and Tier 1 liquidity. This model ensures that the trading rules are intrinsically linked to institutional risk management practices.
The strictness of its Anti-Gambling Rules, detailed down to the level of prohibiting all-in trading, excessive scalping, and defining the 5-minute cooldown period, is indicative of a serious commitment to evaluating strategic skills and not luck. Technological flexibility, supporting MT4, MT5, TraderLocker, and Dx Trade, facilitates the integration of traders with diverse platform preferences. Finally, the permissibility to maintain positions overnight and over the weekend along with a scaling plan that rewards consistent cash flow (10% profit and 4 payouts in 3 months) are very attractive features for disciplined swing traders.
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