Prop Firm News Trading: Which Firms Allow It and Which Don't

News trading is one of the most effective edges in crypto. A Fed rate decision, a CPI print, a major protocol upgrade, or a Bitcoin ETF ruling can move BTC/USD 5% to 15% or more in minutes. Traders who correctly position around these events capture large moves in compressed timeframes, which is exactly why so many prop firms restrict or prohibit it entirely.

If news trading is part of your strategy, choosing a firm that restricts it does not just limit one type of trade. It eliminates your primary edge, makes your evaluation results unrepresentative of your actual trading, and sets you up to fail on a funded account when you return to trading the way you actually trade. Verifying a firm's news trading policy before paying any challenge fee is not optional, it is the first thing to check.

This article is published by Mubite, a crypto prop trading firm. Where Mubite's own products are discussed, this is clearly indicated. All competitor data was verified against official firm websites and independent review sources at the time of writing. Prop firm rules change frequently, always verify directly on each firm's official website before purchasing. Last reviewed: May 2026.

News trading means taking positions around scheduled economic events or major market-moving announcements. In crypto markets the most significant include US macro releases such as CPI, NFP, and FOMC decisions, crypto-specific events like Bitcoin halvings, protocol upgrades, and ETF rulings, and broader geopolitical developments that affect risk appetite across markets.

These events create short windows of high volatility where price moves sharply and quickly. Traders who have a directional view ahead of the event, or who react quickly to the outcome, can capture large moves with defined risk. It is a legitimate and repeatable strategy, not random speculation, which is exactly what makes it worth asking about before choosing a firm.

In a prop trading context, news trading intersects directly with challenge rules. A firm that bans news trading during the evaluation phase prevents you from demonstrating your actual edge. A firm that bans it on funded accounts means your strategy disappears the moment you get funded.

The restrictions are not arbitrary. There are three legitimate reasons firms apply them.

Slippage and execution risk

During high-volatility news windows, spreads widen and fill quality degrades significantly. On simulated accounts backed by real liquidity, a trader might receive a fill at a price that would not be achievable in the live market. The firm absorbs the difference. For firms running thousands of concurrent accounts, this exposure compounds quickly across a single news event.

Correlated risk concentration

If thousands of funded traders go long BTC simultaneously ahead of a bullish macro print, the firm's aggregated exposure in a single 60-second window is enormous. News restrictions reduce the probability of every trader in the book taking the same directional position at the same time.

Evaluation gaming

Some traders pass evaluations by concentrating risk into one or two high-conviction news trades rather than demonstrating consistent risk management over multiple sessions. Firms use news restrictions to ensure the evaluation reflects sustainable trading behaviour, not a single lucky event trade.

These are legitimate concerns. The problem is that blanket restrictions applied to all news events penalise skilled news traders who are managing risk responsibly, not just traders trying to game the evaluation. Understanding why a firm restricts news trading helps you assess whether the restriction makes sense for your strategy or eliminates it entirely.

The policy landscape varies significantly across firms and even across challenge types within the same firm.

Mubite

Mubite explicitly permits news trading with no time window restrictions. The official FAQ states: "Yes, we permit trading during crypto news events, understanding that market volatility presents unique opportunities. We aim to support traders in maximizing gains by allowing trading flexibility during news events."

There are no blackout periods before or after events, no restrictions on which news events are covered, and the policy applies across all challenge types including the Free Trial, One-Step, Two-Step, and Instant Funding accounts. Combined with no consistency rule and weekend holding permitted, Mubite's rule set is designed around trading flexibility rather than restriction.

For traders whose strategy depends on macro events, this is the most important policy difference between Mubite and most of its direct competitors.

Velotrade

Velotrade also permits news trading with no event-based restrictions. Their rules focus on drawdown and risk limits rather than the timing of entries. They are one of only two crypto-native prop firms in this comparison that explicitly permit unrestricted news trading.

DNA Funded

DNA Funded restricts news trading with a 10-minute window around major news events. Traders cannot open or close positions within 10 minutes before or after a high-impact release. This is a stricter window than most firms in the space and effectively eliminates most news entry strategies since the initial move typically occurs in the first 1 to 3 minutes after a release.

HyroTrader

HyroTrader does not impose a blanket news blackout window but does prohibit trading exclusively around major economic events or scheduled news releases. Traders who concentrate their activity into news-driven sessions are flagged under their news-only trading restriction. The 40% daily consistency cap also directly interferes with event-driven traders who generate a disproportionate share of their profit from a small number of high-conviction news trades.

Crypto Fund Trader

News trading is generally allowed but the Ascend program applies a conditional restriction: any trade opened within 2 minutes before or after a news event cannot result in a loss greater than 2% of the initial balance. This creates a position sizing constraint specifically around news entries that does not apply to other trades.

FTMO

FTMO's news trading policy depends on the account type, which makes it one of the more nuanced entries in this comparison.

On the FTMO Standard account, a 2-minute restriction applies once funded: no new positions can be opened on targeted instruments within 2 minutes before or after a high-impact news release. Critically, this restriction applies only to the targeted instrument, trading other instruments during the same window is not restricted. Positions opened more than 2 minutes before a release can be held through it without violating the rule.

On the FTMO Swing account, news trading is permitted without any restriction across all phases including the challenge and funded stages. Swing account traders can open and close positions freely during news events with no blackout window.

For news traders specifically, the FTMO Swing account is a viable option, the restriction only exists on the Standard account and only once funded, not during the evaluation itself.

Topstep

As of April 2026, Topstep does not enforce a formal news trading blackout window on any of its account types including the Trading Combine, Express Funded Account, and Live Funded Account. Traders can open and close positions before, during, and after CPI, FOMC, NFP, and other high-impact releases. 

The practical constraints on Topstep accounts come from drawdown mechanics and the consistency rule, not from a dedicated news trading restriction. Older third-party comparisons that cited a 2-minute buffer for Topstep should be treated as outdated.

Marketing pages rarely mention news trading restrictions. The information is almost always in the detailed rules documentation and is easy to miss on a first read. Before paying any challenge fee, check the following:

• Search the full rules document for the words "news", "economic event", "NFP", "CPI", "FOMC", and "high-impact". If none of these appear, the firm either has no restriction or has buried the restriction under different terminology

• Check whether the restriction applies to entries, exits, or both. Some firms ban opening new positions during news windows but allow closing existing ones. Others restrict both. The difference matters significantly for how you manage open positions into a news event

• Verify the window duration. A 2-minute window and a 10-minute window are not the same restriction. Most of the initial volatility after a major release happens in the first 60 to 90 seconds, so a 2-minute window is already enough to miss the primary move

• Check whether the restriction applies only to the evaluation or also to the funded account. Some firms allow news trading during challenges but restrict it once funded. This is the most damaging version because it means your evaluation strategy is incompatible with how you will be allowed to trade with real capital

• Ask support in writing. If the rules documentation is ambiguous, get written confirmation from the firm's support team before purchasing. A verbal or chat-based assurance that cannot be quoted back to you is not sufficient if a payout dispute arises later

A firm that publishes its news trading policy clearly and without ambiguity in its publicly available challenge rules is demonstrating the kind of transparency that matters before you commit a challenge fee.

For traders whose strategy involves news events, Mubite's unrestricted policy is worth understanding in full before starting a challenge.

What is and is not restricted:

• News trading during all crypto market events is permitted with no time window before or after releases

• There is no consistency rule, meaning profit concentrated into specific news sessions does not trigger a rule violation

• Weekend holding is permitted, which matters for traders holding positions into or through weekend macro developments

• The standard drawdown rules apply at all times including during news events. The daily loss limit does not expand during high-volatility periods

Execution during news events on Bybit:

Mubite challenges run on real Bybit order books via direct API connection. This means spreads during news events reflect actual Bybit market conditions, not a simulated spread that the firm controls. For news traders this is a meaningful advantage over firms running simulated accounts with proprietary pricing, where the execution environment during volatility is entirely within the firm's control.

The trade-off is that Bybit's real spreads do widen during major events. Position sizing during news entries needs to account for realistic slippage on entry and exit, not the tight spreads available in normal market conditions.

Testing your news trading approach:

The free trial account at Mubite runs on the same Bybit infrastructure as a paid challenge. Testing your news trading approach under real market conditions with no financial risk before committing to a paid challenge gives you a direct read on how your strategy performs in the actual environment you will be trading in. No other crypto prop firm offers this for news traders specifically.

News trading restrictions are one of the most practically important rule differences between prop firms, and one of the least prominently disclosed. A firm that bans entries within 2 minutes of a major release, applies a 10-minute window, or prohibits news-only strategies does not just limit a trade type, it eliminates the edge of any trader whose strategy is built around macro events.

Among crypto-native prop firms, Mubite and Velotrade allow unrestricted news trading with no blackout window across all challenge types. Topstep imposes no formal news blackout either, though its consistency rule creates indirect constraints for event-focused traders. FTMO's Swing account also permits unrestricted news trading, making it a viable option for forex and multi-asset news traders specifically. For traders whose strategy depends on macro events, that policy difference is worth more than any difference in profit split percentage or entry fee.

Verify any firm's news trading policy directly in their full rules documentation before paying. If the policy is not clear, ask for written confirmation before purchasing.