Time limits
Neither firm imposes a maximum time limit to complete their evaluations, but they both force you to stay active. At Blue Guardian Futures, you cannot let your account sit idle for more than 7 days once funded. At Hola Prime Futures, the same 7-day inactivity rule applies to both evaluation and funded accounts.
The biggest time-related restriction at Hola Prime is the subscription model for the 1-Step Prime Challenge: it is not a one-time fee but a monthly charge that renews every 30 days. This creates a hidden deadline, as every month you fail to reach the target, you are penalized with a new payment.
Weekends and news
You cannot hold positions over the weekend at either firm. Furthermore, overnight trading is prohibited in both cases. At Hola Prime, you must be flat by 15:28 CT, and you cannot rely on the firm's risk team to close your positions for you.
While both firms allow news trading, Blue Guardian warns of slippage and spread widening, while Hola Prime explicitly prohibits exploiting low-liquidity or gapped markets during these events. Neither firm allows you to trade within 2% of a CME price limit, effectively locking you out of the market during extreme volatility.
Where you can trade from
Both firms have extensive lists of prohibited jurisdictions. Blue Guardian Futures, based in Saint Lucia, has a massive list of over 70 banned countries, including China, Russia, and much of the Middle East and Africa.
Hola Prime Futures, based in Hong Kong, also restricts several regions, notably including India and Pakistan, which are not on Blue Guardian's list. You cannot use a VPN to bypass these restrictions, and Hola Prime specifically monitors for device sharing or identity sharing, which results in the immediate closure of all accounts.
What the platform limits
The technical environment at both firms is highly restrictive regarding automation. You cannot use EAs, bots, or any fully automated trading mechanisms at Blue Guardian or Hola Prime.
- Blue Guardian: You are limited to Tradovate, ProjectX, Volsys, and DeepCharts. You cannot use NinjaTrader here. Copy trading is strictly forbidden across the board.
- Hola Prime: You are restricted to NinjaTrader, Tradovate, and WealthCharts. You cannot use the proprietary platforms available at Blue Guardian. While you can copy trades, you are limited to copying only your own accounts within their environment; you cannot copy external signals or other traders.
What the rules cost you
The financial restrictions extend far beyond the initial fee.
- Drawdown: Both firms use a trailing end-of-day drawdown. This means your "safety net" moves up with your balance but never moves down. At Blue Guardian, once it reaches your starting balance, it locks. At Hola Prime, it also locks at the starting balance, but any payout request immediately fixes the floor at that level, reducing your future room for error.
- Payout Restrictions: You cannot withdraw whenever you want. Blue Guardian requires a minimum of $500 and charges a 2% fee. Hola Prime is even more restrictive: it imposes a 2.5% fee and sets payout caps during the Sim Funded phase (e.g., you cannot withdraw more than $1,500 on your first payout for a 50K account).
- Consistency: You cannot have one "lucky" day. Blue Guardian's consistency rule (40%) blocks payouts if one day accounts for too much of your profit. Hola Prime's limit is even tighter on the Prime funded account at 35%.
Restrictions that add up
The combined effect of these rules creates a high-pressure environment. At Hola Prime, the combination of a monthly subscription, a mandatory stop loss, and payout caps means you are constantly paying to play while being limited in how much you can actually take out. At Blue Guardian, the combination of the 40% consistency rule and the "buffer" requirement (where you can only withdraw profits above a certain threshold) means your first few thousand dollars of profit are essentially untouchable, forcing you to keep trading and risking your account balance just to reach a point where a withdrawal is even possible.
Frequently asked questions
Which firm is more expensive to maintain if I don't pass the evaluation quickly, Blue Guardian or Hola Prime?
Hola Prime is significantly more expensive for slower traders because its 1-Step Prime Challenge is a subscription that renews every 30 days. For a $150K account, you must pay $359 every month until you pass. In contrast, Blue Guardian uses a one-time fee model (e.g., $296 for a $150K Reserve account), meaning you only pay once regardless of how many months it takes you to reach the profit target.
Which firm has stricter limits on how much I can withdraw at once, Blue Guardian or Hola Prime?
Hola Prime has much stricter withdrawal limits due to its payout caps. For a 50K account, your first payout is capped at $1,500, the second at $2,000, and only from the fourth payout onwards is it capped at $3,000. Blue Guardian Futures does not list specific payout caps, although it does require a minimum withdrawal of $500 and enforces a profit buffer on Standard and Express plans that restricts how much of your balance is actually withdrawable.
Between Blue Guardian and Hola Prime, which one offers less freedom in choosing trading platforms?
Both firms offer different but limited selections. Blue Guardian does not allow you to use NinjaTrader, forcing you into Tradovate or their other options like ProjectX and Volsys. Hola Prime allows NinjaTrader but does not offer the specific platforms found at Blue Guardian. If you are a NinjaTrader user, Blue Guardian is a total restriction; if you prefer Volsys or DeepCharts, Hola Prime will not allow you to use them.
Which firm imposes more restrictions on payout frequency, Blue Guardian or Hola Prime?
Hola Prime is more restrictive for Sim Funded accounts, allowing requests only every seven calendar days. Blue Guardian offers more flexibility depending on the plan: while the Standard plan allows payouts every 3 days, the Express plan allows for daily payouts, and the Direct plan even offers instant payouts from day one. Both firms require a minimum of 5 winning days for their "Reserve" or "Prime" accounts, but Blue Guardian's Express and Direct plans remove that specific hurdle.


















