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Comparison · Futures

How much freedom you get at Blue Guardian Futures and Hola Prime Futures

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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.

Field by field

Blue Guardian Futures and Hola Prime Futures, side by side

Rules, plans, platforms, leverage, commissions and payouts of both, with the option to see only what differs.

Head to head

52 differences

Headquarters

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

L1, Shaw House, 201 Wan Po Road, Tseung Kwan O

CEO

Sean Bainton

Somesh Kapuria

Country

United Arab Emirates

Hong Kong

Foundation

2021

2024

Banned Countries
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Botswana, Bulgaria, Burma (Myanmar), Burundi, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, China, Côte d'Ivoire, Crimea, Croatia, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Ghana, Haiti, Hong Kong, Iceland, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Kenya, Kosovo, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Macedonia, Mali, Mauritius, Mongolia, Montenegro, Mozambique, Namibia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Senegal, Serbia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen
Afghanistan, Belarus, Burundi, Central African Republic, China, Cuba, North Korea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, India, Iran, Iraq, Laos, Libya, Mali, Moldova, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Russia, Somalia, Syria, Tunisia, Ukraine, Vietnam, Yemen, Zimbabwe
Assets
No data
Futures
Refund
No
No data
Payout Fee

2% processing fee on all withdrawals (Riseworks).

2.5% per payout. Minimum fee: USD 25 for bank wire or Rise; USD 5 for crypto.

Platforms
Tradovate, ProjectX, Volsys, DeepCharts
NinjaTrader, Tradovate, WealthCharts
Demo Account
Unknown
No data
Payout Methods
Transfer, Crypto
Crypto, Transfer, Rise
Live Account
Yes

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.

Yes

By risk-team invitation; the transition cannot be requested or declined. Eligibility reference: at least ten payouts totaling USD 50,000, with possible earlier invitations. One live account per trader. At most 15% of the sim funded account size transfers; excess profit does not carry over. Paid professional data required.

Payment Methods
Card, Crypto, ApplePay, GooglePay
Card, Crypto
Payout Frequency
  • 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.

Prime and Direct sim funded: every seven calendar days from the first trade of the cycle; after a payout the next trade starts a new cycle. Live: daily requests.

Payout Guarantee

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.

Processing within one hour of an eligible request, following a prior review of up to 24 business hours. Business days only; KYC or incomplete details may cause delays.

Minimum Withdrawal

$500 across all account types.

Prime and Direct sim funded, by size: 25K, USD 250; 50K, USD 500; 100K, USD 1,000; 150K, USD 1,500. Rise requires at least USD 500 of the trader share. Live: USD 500 including the firm share.

Maximum Withdrawal
No data

Prime and Direct sim funded payout caps, ordered first / second / third / fourth and subsequent:

  • 25K: USD 1,000 / 1,250 / 1,500 / 2,000.
  • 50K: USD 1,500 / 2,000 / 2,500 / 3,000.
  • 100K: USD 2,000 / 2,500 / 3,000 / 4,000.
  • 150K: USD 2,500 / 3,000 / 4,000 / 5,000.
Other Payout Requirements
No data

KYC, agreement and interview before the first payout; account review for every request and further checks when required. After a payout the loss floor becomes the starting balance: retain enough profit to avoid touching it. Consistency resets even after a partial payout.

Account Reset
Yes

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.

Failed challenges can be repurchased at any time. Funded accounts cannot be reset.

Add-ons
Yes

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.

No data
Instant
Yes
Yes

Direct Account: funded access without any evaluation phase.

One Step
Yes
Yes

1-Step Prime Challenge: single-phase evaluation with a profit target and consistency requirement.

Account scaling
Yes

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.

Limited

Live program: whenever accumulated profit reaches 100% of the reference balance, the account grows by 10%. Payouts count toward profit and eligibility is reviewed on payout requests. The Forex scaling ladder does not automatically apply to Futures sim funded.

Two Steps
No
No data
Max Drawdown

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.

Evaluation and sim funded: trails the highest end-of-day balance, not intraday unrealized peaks. It only rises and locks at the starting balance after earning the drawdown distance. A payout fixes the floor at the starting balance even if it had not locked yet. Touching it with balance or equity closes the account.

Profit Split

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.

Each product split is listed in its challenge. The live program has its own split and starting-balance release requirements.

Daily Drawdown

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

Prime evaluation and sim funded: no daily cap. Direct: based on the previous closing balance; reaching it closes positions and pauses trading until the next day, without terminating the account for that isolated event. Maximum-loss breaches still terminate the account.

Three Steps
No
No data
Max Allocation
150,000

Combined sim funded and Direct: up to USD 500,000 or five accounts, whichever comes first. Combined Forex and Futures: USD 800,000. One live account may additionally be held.

Mandatory buffer
Limited

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.
Limited

After a payout the balance must stay above the starting balance, which becomes the loss floor. Withdrawing all profit would leave no room above that limit.

Minimum Trading Days
  • 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

None on any plan.

Funded Phase Pricing Model

No activation

Sim funded: no monthly membership fee; Level 1 data included. Live: professional data, USD 130 per exchange per month or USD 520 for all four, without proration.

Minimum Profitable Days
  • 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

Prime sim funded: five non-consecutive profitable days in every payout cycle, not only the first. Minimum daily profit: 25K, USD 100; 50K, USD 150; 100K, USD 200; 150K, USD 250. Direct has no profitable-day minimum.

Position size scaling
No
No

Size-based limits are listed on each challenge. Standard mini:micro ratio is 1:10; Micro Silver has double weighting, and MBT/MET count as minis. No progressive sim funded contract-scaling plan is documented. Live has separate limits.

Evaluation Phase Pricing Model

One-time fee

1-Step Prime is a subscription that renews automatically every 30 days until passing or cancellation. It cannot be paused. Cancellation loses progress and returning requires a new purchase.

Free Trial
No data
No
Maximum Accounts
No data

At most five sim funded or Direct accounts, subject to total allocation; one additional live account. Unlimited evaluation purchases.

Merge Accounts
No data
No
Maximum Trading Days
No data

Unlimited on all plans.

Expert Advisor (EA)
No
No
VPN
Yes
Limited

Legitimate connections and VPNs outside restricted countries are permitted. Own devices only; travel may require verification. Device or identity sharing may close all accounts.

Hedging
Yes
No data
Requires Stop Loss
No
Limited

Stop losses required in sim funded and Direct; without one, a trade is treated as unlimited risk. The per-idea risk rule does not apply during evaluation. No fixed three-minute stop-placement deadline is documented here.

Scalping
Yes

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.

Limited

There is no universal minimum holding time. A systematic pattern of sub-three-minute trades without a plan, tick scalping, HFT or latency exploitation is prohibited.

Stacking / Layering (DCA)
Yes
No data
Martingale
Yes
No data
Maximum Risk Limit
Yes

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.
Yes

Sim funded and Direct: 2% of the initial balance per idea on Tradovate, NinjaTrader and WealthCharts; legacy DX Futures accounts use 1%. Not applicable during evaluation. Overlapping positions and same-asset, same-direction re-entries within ten minutes are combined.

Copy Trading
No
Limited

Only own Hola Prime challenge or sim funded accounts within the same environment. The lead must have the lowest contract limit. Third-party copiers are used at the trader responsibility; external or other-person accounts cannot be copied.

News Trading
Yes

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.

Yes
Inactivity Rule

At least one trade every 7 days on funded accounts.

Yes

Evaluation and sim funded: complete at least one round-trip trade within each seven-day period. Live: suspension after 30 calendar days; opening or closing a trade counts as activity.

Consistency Rule
Yes

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.

Limited

1-Step Prime Challenge: 40%. Prime funded account: 35%. Direct Account: 20%.

Hold Weekend
No
No
Prohibited Strategies
  • 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.

Bots and partial or full automation; tick scalping and HFT; arbitrage, latency, errors and low-liquidity exploitation; grid, overexposure, account rolling and unsupported bets; copying external or other-person accounts; cross-account hedging; shared accounts or devices; unjustified strategy or contract-size changes to manipulate evaluations or payouts. Trading within 2% of a CME price limit is prohibited. Violations may forfeit profits and terminate accounts.

Overnight positions
No
No

Close daily before 15:30 CT; the trader must be flat by 15:28 CT without relying on risk-team flattening. Observe earlier agricultural and holiday closes. Sunday-evening to Monday trading belongs to one session and is permitted.

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