HFT / latency arb / external feed / system error exploitation: definitions

TL;DR

This is the “making money from plumbing, not trading” playbook. If your edge is feed delay, execution glitches, or ultra-high frequency, it’s prohibited.

How it works

PropXP flags and can terminate accounts for high-frequency/unethical methods such as:

• HFT (abusive): extremely high order frequency designed to exploit microstructure, not price discovery.
• Tick-scalping: repeatedly opening/closing positions for tiny moves (ticks) as a routine, often relying on speed/short holding times rather than directional edge. When it’s systematic, it overlaps heavily with abusive HFT behavior.
• Latency arbitrage: acting on delayed prices (e.g. one feed updates later, you hit stale quotes).
• External/slow feed trading: using outside pricing feeds to exploit mismatches.
• System error exploitation: profiting from platform glitches, price freezes, off-market quotes, or execution anomalies.

Related enforcement: 2-minute minimum holding time (Funded + Instant Funding)

For Instant Funding Program accounts and Funded Accounts only, each position must remain open for at least 2 minutes before it may be closed or reduced by you (including your bots/EAs).

• This rule is assessed based on behavior and patterns.
• Isolated accidental early closes may be treated differently.
• Repeated/systematic closes under 2 minutes (or attempts to circumvent intent) may be treated as tick-scalping behavior, and can lead to actions like trade exclusions/adjustments, restrictions, reward denial, and/or account termination.

Common gotchas

• “But my EA is just fast.” Fast execution is fine; abusive frequency / stale-quote logic / tick-scalping patterns are not.
• Spamming orders (modify/cancel like crazy) can look like platform manipulation.
• If your strategy needs the broker to be wrong (stale price, freeze, glitch), it’s not a strategy and it will be flagged.
• If you find a platform bug: report it. Exploit it and you’re volunteering for a permanent ban.

Example

You run a bot that watches an external feed and instantly opens trades when PropXP’s quote lags by a few milliseconds. That’s latency/external feed exploitation. Not allowed.

Related FAQs

• Are EAs allowed? (What’s OK vs what gets you flagged)
• Appeals process: What evidence do you accept?
• VPN / VM / shared IP / unusual login behavior: what gets flagged