Which is better for your first challenge: Blue Guardian Futures or Halcyon Trader Funding?

Algaroud Center, 2nd Floor, Office 101-05, Dubai, UAE

Sean Bainton

Steve A. Kubik

United Arab Emirates

United States

2021

2024

2% processing fee on all withdrawals (Riseworks).

After completing the evaluation and trading consistently on a Simulated Funded Account, the Risk Management team may invite traders to Live. There is no fixed timeline; each trader is evaluated individually. From 28/09/2026, all eligible funded accounts merge into one Live Account at transition. Their starting Live drawdowns add together: five $50K accounts provide $10,000 of combined drawdown. The $15,000 cap applies to new purchases after 28/09/2026. Contract limits scale with the combined drawdown, up to 10 minis / 100 micros. At each live profit milestone of 0.5x, 1x and 1.5x the starting drawdown, 25% of that drawdown is deposited into the Live balance as a bonus. The bonus becomes withdrawable after five winning days with the account in profit. Instead of trading Live, the trader may choose a one-time Live Buyout of 50% of the combined starting drawdown at transition. It is available once per trader, with a 28-day cooldown afterward. Live accounts use end-of-day drawdown with no daily loss limit. CME professional data, trade commissions and platform fees are deducted from the balance. Contract limits may increase with consistent performance.

• Halcyon may transition traders to a Live Brokerage account once consistency and risk management are demonstrated.
• Trader Live Training Program: intermediate stage in a simulated environment that rewards milestones before live transition.
• Live Brokerage: daily reward requests (Mon–Fri), 100% profit split, swing trading allowed, margin-based contract limits.
• Exclusive to the Ironbeam platform.
• Starting capital on live typically matches the qualifying Reward Account's drawdown amount.

• Standard: every 3 days, from 3 days after the first trade
• Reserve: instant payout once eligible (5 winning days)
• Express: daily payouts
• Direct: instant payout from day one

Withdrawal eligibility is confirmed by the end-of-day (EOD) dashboard update. Once the withdrawal button is enabled, a request can be submitted at any time without waiting for the next EOD update.

• 6 qualifying trading days are required before each reward request
• All 6 days must meet the applicable Minimum Daily Profit Requirement
• Lite/Prime minimums: $100 for 25K, $200 for 50K and $350 for 150K
• Dynamic minimums: $200 for 50K, $275 for 75K, $325 for 100K and $400 for 150K
• After each approved reward, all qualifying trading days reset to zero
• No payout window: requests can be submitted whenever the dashboard shows an eligible reward amount
• Processed first-in, first-out, up to 3 business days

Payouts processed within 24 business hours. If Blue Guardian misses that window through a delay on their end, you receive an extra 10% profit share on that payout. Does not apply on weekends or bank holidays, nor to delays from compliance or risk reviews, Rise onboarding or a pending trader response.

$500 across all account types.

Minimum reward request: $250. Lite, Prime and Dynamic Reward Accounts only need net profit above their starting balance; there is no buffer to clear.

Lite and Prime

• 25K: 50% of profits, up to $1,000 per reward
• 50K: 50% of profits, up to $2,000 per reward
• 150K: 50% of profits, up to $3,000 per reward

Dynamic

• 50K: up to $1,250 per reward
• 75K: up to $1,550 per reward
• 100K: up to $2,000 per reward
• 150K: up to $3,000 per reward

Maximum 5 approved rewards per account. After the 5th reward, the account may be reviewed for transition to the TLT Program or a Live Brokerage account.

• Based on the default (free) membership tier of platform partners.
• Fees include: exchange, NFA, clearing and platform commission.
• Calculated per contract, per round trip.
• Micro contracts generally have lower fees than mini contracts.

Evaluation accounts can be reset at 30% off the original price. After failing the evaluation, the trader has 7 days to decide whether to reset. Funded accounts cannot be reset.

• Unlimited resets available for a fee (via the Trader Dashboard).
• Restores a fresh account balance with all risk parameters reset.

Reserve challenges are configurable at checkout. Traders can choose a Daily Loss Limit or no Daily Loss Limit, combined with a 40% consistency rule (3-day pass) or a 50% consistency rule (2-day pass). The price varies depending on the selected combination.

Express challenges offer an optional 50% evaluation consistency add-on instead of the standard 40% rule, allowing traders to qualify after as few as 2 green days.

• Halcyon Prime: 1-Day Pass add-on. Price by size: +$18 (25K), +$27 (50K), +$41 (150K).
• Bypasses the 40% consistency rule.
• Allows passing the evaluation in a single trading day.
• Halcyon Lite has no add-ons.

Scaling applies to funded Reserve and Express accounts only. Standard and Direct keep flat contract limits from start to finish.

On Reserve and Express you get full contract size during the evaluation, and funded limits start lower and grow with the account balance. Updated at end of day (EOD) on the closing balance; if the EOD balance drops below a trigger, the tier can go back down.

Starting funded limits

• $25,000: 1 mini / 10 micros
• $50,000: 2 minis / 20 micros
• $100,000: 3 minis / 30 micros
• $150,000: 3 minis / 30 micros

Scaling triggers ($25K / $50K / $100K / $150K)

• +$1,500: 2/20 · 3/30 · 4/40 · 4/40
• +$2,000: — · 4/40 · 5/50 · 5/50
• +$3,000: — · — · 8/80 · 8/80
• +$4,500: — · — · — · 12/120

Flat limits (Standard and Direct)

• $25,000: 1 mini / 10 micros
• $50,000: 4 minis / 40 micros
• $100,000: 8 minis / 80 micros
• $150,000: 12 minis / 120 micros

1 mini = 10 micros; contracts can be mixed within the limit.

Trailing end-of-day (EOD) on all plans. Values per plan and size:

• Standard $25K / $50K / $100K / $150K: $1,500 / $2,000 / $3,500 / $5,000
• Reserve $25K / $50K / $100K / $150K: $1,000 / $2,000 / $3,000 / $4,500
• Express $25K / $50K / $100K / $150K: $1,000 / $2,000 / $2,500 / $3,500
• Direct $25K / $50K / $100K / $150K: $1,500 / $2,000 / $3,500 / $4,500

Once the trailing drawdown reaches the starting balance, it locks and stops trailing.

On Direct the drawdown becomes static after the account exceeds the initial trail balance or after the first payout request. After any approved payout the drawdown floor locks at starting balance + $100 on every plan.

Halcyon Lite (Intraday Trailing)

• $25K: $1,000 | $50K: $2,000 | $150K: $4,000
• Tracks Total Liquidation Value including unrealized profits
• Locks permanently at starting balance + $100 after the first approved reward

Halcyon Prime (End-of-Day)

• $25K: $1,000 | $50K: $2,000 | $150K: $4,500
• Updates only at end of trading session based on closing balance
• Locks permanently at starting balance + $100 after the first approved reward

Halcyon Dynamic

• Evaluation: $2,000 on the 50K account; Intraday or End-of-Day selected at purchase
• Reward: $2,000 on 50K | $2,500 on 75K | $3,000 on 100K | $4,000 on 150K
• Reward drawdown can be Intraday or End-of-Day, independently of the evaluation choice
• Locks permanently at starting balance + $100 after the first approved reward

90% on all funded accounts and plans.

A payout delayed beyond the 24-business-hour guarantee adds an extra 10% profit share on that payout.

90/10 profit split on all Lite, Prime and Dynamic Reward Accounts. Trader keeps 90%, firm keeps 10%.

Soft breach on every plan: open trades are closed automatically and the account is disabled for the rest of the day, then reinstated the next trading day.

• Standard $25K: none. $50K / $100K / $150K: $1,000 / $2,000 / $3,000
• Reserve: configurable at checkout. Traders can choose no daily loss limit or a soft DLL of $600 / $1,200 / $1,700 / $3,000 on $25K / $50K / $100K / $150K. The price varies depending on the selected option
• Express challenge $25K: none. $50K / $100K / $150K: $1,000 / $1,250 / $1,750
• Express funded $25K / $50K / $100K / $150K: $500 / $1,000 / $1,250 / $1,750
• Direct $25K / $50K / $100K / $150K: $1,000 / $1,250 / $2,500 / $3,000

No daily loss limits on any plan.

Standard — Funded Buffer

• $25,000 → $1,600
• $50,000 → $2,100
• $100,000 → $3,600
• $150,000 → $5,100

Payouts are only available from profits earned above the buffer, and the buffer must stay intact when submitting a request.

Express

• $25,000 → $1,100
• $50,000 → $2,100
• $100,000 → $3,600
• $150,000 → $5,100

Payouts are only available from profits earned above the buffer.

Reserve

• No buffer to reach before a payout, but after any withdrawal the drawdown floor locks at starting balance + $100.

Direct

• No profit buffer requirement.

• No buffer. Removed for accounts purchased from 8 Aug 2026.
• To request a reward it is enough to be above the account starting balance: there is no locked amount to build or maintain.
• Previously a buffer of drawdown + $100 was required, and withdrawing from within it was not allowed.
• After the first approved reward, the maximum loss limit moves permanently to starting balance + $100.

• No minimum trading days on evaluation. Standard can be passed in as little as one trading day
• Express with the optional 50% consistency add-on can qualify after 2 green days
• Funded: one trade every 7 days to keep the account active

• Halcyon Lite Evaluation: 1 trading day
• Halcyon Prime Evaluation: 3 trading days, or 1 day with the 1-Day Pass add-on
• Halcyon Dynamic Evaluation: 1 trading day
• All Reward Accounts: 6 qualifying trading days before each reward request; the counter resets to zero after each approved reward

No activation

Lite and Prime

• With activation-fee pricing, the activation fee is paid once after passing
• With no-activation-fee pricing, no payment is required after passing
• Both options lead to the same Reward Account rules

Dynamic

• After passing, the trader pays a one-time upgrade fee based on the selected Reward Account size, drawdown type and consistency option

• Standard: no minimum. First payout 3 days after the first trade
• Reserve: 5 winning days before each payout, with a minimum of $100 / $150 / $200 / $250 profit per day on $25K / $50K / $100K / $150K. Winning days reset after every payout
• Express: no minimum
• Direct: no minimum

• Halcyon Lite Evaluation: 1 trading day
• Halcyon Prime Evaluation: 3 trading days, or 1 day with the 1-Day Pass add-on
• Halcyon Dynamic Evaluation: 1 trading day
• All Reward Accounts: 6 qualifying trading days meeting the applicable Minimum Daily Profit Requirement before each reward request

One-time fee

Lite and Prime
Two one-time pricing options are available:

• With activation fee: lower evaluation fee, then a separate activation fee after passing
• No activation fee: higher all-in evaluation fee; upgrade to the Reward Account is free

Dynamic

• One-time 50K evaluation fee: $47 with Intraday Trailing drawdown or $49 with End-of-Day drawdown
• A separate Reward Account upgrade fee is paid after passing

No subscriptions or recurring billing.

• Evaluation accounts expire after 30 calendar days if not passed.
• Accounts inactive for more than 30 calendar days are disabled.

• Bots, algos and semi-automated systems are allowed.
• You must be the sole owner of the system.
• The system cannot be used across multiple firms.
• HFT (high-frequency trading) bots are not allowed.
• Halcyon may request proof of usage.

Microscalping (trades held seconds with minimal profit margins) is prohibited. Automated scalping systems that exceed 200 trades per day are not allowed. Exploiting tight brackets or the simulated market's absence of slippage is forbidden.

Max risk-to-reward ratio: 5:1. For every $100 of profit target, your initial stop loss cannot exceed $500. Mental stops are accepted but excessive risk-taking can lead to warnings or payout disqualification. Adjusting stops to add risk goes against policy; only move stops forward to trail and protect profits.

Additional risk guardrails:

• Trade within 2% of any CME price limit is prohibited.
• Trading without clear risk management, excessive sizing, inconsistent contract sizes or "all-in" strategies may be considered gambling and lead to account review.
• Holding a position into the daily 16:10 EST auto-close is fine; the auto-close itself doesn't breach the account.

• Contract limits are applied based on account size.
• Excessive daily contract usage is prohibited (over 250 contracts across micros or minis).

Allowed on both challenge and funded accounts, on every plan. Traders can open, manage and close positions during high-impact news. Blue Guardian warns that slippage and spread widening may occur.

At least one trade every 7 days on funded accounts.

Accounts must place at least one trade every 30 consecutive calendar days. Accounts inactive for more than 30 days will be considered inactive and may be disabled. Evaluation accounts also expire 30 calendar days after starting if not passed.

A single trading day cannot equal or exceed:

• Standard: 40%, on the funded account only
• Reserve: configurable as 40% (3-day pass) or 50% (2-day pass), on the evaluation only
• Express: 40% on the evaluation by default; an optional 50% evaluation consistency add-on allows qualification after as few as 2 green days
• Direct: 20% on the first payout, 25% on the second, 30% from the third onwards

Calculation: Highest Net Profit Day / Total Account PnL. On evaluation accounts, passing is delayed until the ratio complies with the selected threshold. On funded accounts, payouts are blocked until the ratio drops below the applicable threshold. Violating the rule does NOT terminate the account.

Halcyon Lite

• No consistency rule on evaluation or reward accounts.

Halcyon Prime

• 40% consistency rule on BOTH evaluation and reward accounts.
• No single trading day's profit may exceed 40% of total profits during the qualifying period.
• 1-Day Pass Add-On allows bypassing the consistency requirement during evaluation only.

Halcyon Dynamic

• When upgrading after passing the evaluation, the trader chooses a Reward Account with 40% consistency or no consistency.

Day trading only. All positions must be closed and all orders canceled by 4:45 PM EST (New York Time). Positions are automatically liquidated outside trading hours. No overnight or weekend holding on any account type.

• Automated scalping systems exceeding 200 trades per day.
• AI, bots and fully automated trading mechanisms (all account types).
• Hands-off, continuous day-and-night trading or complete automation.
• Placing multiple limit orders at the same price to manipulate fills.
• Strategies aimed at exploiting isolated fills in low-liquidity or gapped markets.
• Using tight brackets or absence of slippage in the simulated market for favorable fills.
• Trading during tier 1 economic data releases.
• Coordinated trading across unconnected accounts (identical or opposing strategies).
• Microscalping (trades held seconds with minimal margins).
• Trading within 2% of a CME price limit.
• Trading without a stop loss, relying on the trailing threshold to close trades.

• Hedging on the same or related underlying assets (e.g. ES + MES, NQ + MNQ)
• Opposite Direction Trades within or across accounts (CME Rule 534 – Wash Trades, CME Rule 575 – Disruptive Practices)
• Mixing micro and mini contracts on the same asset
• Holding positions outside trading hours / overnight / weekend
• Account sharing or third-party trading

• All positions must be closed and all orders canceled by 4:45 PM EST.
• Positions are automatically liquidated outside trading hours.
• Failing to close may trigger automatic liquidation and account failure.