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Alpha Futures Prohibited Strategies: HFT & Tick Scalping Rules

Written by Paul

Published on

January 4, 2026

Alpha Futures maintains a strict list of prohibited trading practices designed to prevent exploitation of their simulated environment. These aren't arbitrary rules—they're specifically targeting strategies that work in sim but fail spectacularly when transferred to live capital, or tactics that manipulate platform mechanics rather than trading actual market movement.

Violate these rules and Alpha reserves the right to immediately terminate your account, void all profits, and disqualify you from funded status. There's no appeal process for clear violations. Your evaluation progress or funded profits disappear instantly.

Understanding exactly where the line sits between aggressive trading (allowed) and prohibited practices (instant termination) is critical. Let me break down what Alpha actually enforces and why.

Quick heads-up: This article is based on my real experience with Alpha Futures and the info available when I published/updated this. Things change in prop trading — rules, payouts, promos, all of it.

For the absolute latest, check Alpha Futures's website or their help center.

1. High-Frequency Trading & Automation Abuse

What's prohibited:

Automated systems executing 100+ trades per day
AI bots and fully automated trading mechanisms
Hands-off continuous day/night trading
HFT strategies exploiting execution speed

What's allowed:

Semi-automated trading with manual execution (custom indicators giving buy/sell signals that you manually trade)
Up to 99 trades per day if executed manually
Trading automation tools for order management (auto stop-loss, bracket orders)

Where the line sits:

Prohibited: You've coded a bot that monitors NQ tick-by-tick, automatically entering 5-contract positions on specific technical patterns, managing stops, and exiting at targets. It runs 24/7 executing 150-200 trades daily without your intervention.

Allowed: You use TradingView alerts that notify you when NQ hits specific levels. You manually review the setup, manually enter the trade, manually adjust stops, and manually exit. Even if you execute 40-60 trades daily based on these alerts, you're compliant because execution is manual.

Why this rule exists: Alpha wants traders who can manage live capital with human judgment, not programmers optimizing fill algorithms. Strategies requiring 100+ daily trades typically rely on tight fills and zero slippage that don't exist in live markets. They're training traders, not funding quant firms.

2. Tick Scalping & Micro-Scalping

What's prohibited:

Trades held less than 2 minutes AND capturing less than 10 ticks
Consistently opening/closing positions in under 2 minutes without plan
Max leverage quick flips exploiting favorable sim fills

What's allowed:

Scalping 4-8 tick moves with 30-second to 3-minute holds
Quick exits on invalidated setups (entered long, immediate rejection, exit in 45 seconds with 3-tick loss)
Legitimate fast-paced trading with reasonable hold times

Where the line sits:

Prohibited: You enter 5 NQ contracts, hold for 45 seconds capturing 6 ticks ($600), exit. Repeat 30 times daily. Your average hold time is 1 minute 15 seconds, and 80% of your profits come from sub-2-minute holds under 10 ticks.

Allowed: You scalp NQ for 8-12 tick moves, sometimes exiting winners in 90 seconds, sometimes holding 4-5 minutes. Occasionally you exit losers in under 1 minute when setups fail immediately. But your profit pattern shows you're trading actual price action with varied hold times and tick captures.

The critical distinction: Alpha looks at patterns, not individual trades. One quick scalp doesn't violate. Consistently generating 70%+ of your profits from sub-2-minute, sub-10-tick trades signals you're exploiting sim fills, not trading real market movement.

Real example of acceptable scalping: You enter 2 NQ at 16,250 targeting 16,262 (12 ticks). Market moves to 16,256 in 90 seconds, then stalls. You exit at 16,256 (6 ticks, 90-second hold). This is fine—you made a trading decision based on price action, even though it was quick and small.

Real example of prohibited scalping: You enter 5 NQ at 16,250.00, immediately market-exit at 16,250.50 (2 ticks, 15-second hold). Repeat this 50 times daily averaging 2-4 ticks per trade held under 60 seconds. You're tick scalping—prohibited.

3. Reverse Trading & Cross-Account Hedging

What's prohibited:

Short position on Account A, long position on Account B (simultaneous)
Long NQ, short MNQ on same account
Any offsetting positions creating guaranteed-win scenarios
Collaborating with other traders for opposite positions

What's allowed:

Long ES, long NQ on same account (both directionally aligned)
Trading multiple accounts independently with different strategies
Switching between long/short on single account based on market conditions

Where the line sits:

Prohibited: You're long 3 NQ contracts on your $100K account at 16,250. Simultaneously, you're short 3 NQ contracts on your $50K account at 16,250. When NQ moves to 16,280, one account wins $1,800, the other loses $1,800. You've created synthetic hedge guaranteeing one account passes while the other fails.

Allowed: You trade momentum strategy on Account A (currently long 2 NQ at 16,250). You trade range strategy on Account B (currently flat, waiting for range setup). These are independent strategies that might occasionally result in opposite positions, but you're not deliberately hedging.

Also prohibited: Long NQ at 16,250, short MNQ at 16,250 on same account. You've created internal hedge—when NQ moves 20 points, your NQ gains $400 while MNQ loses $40. Net gain $360 with minimal risk. Alpha catches this as reverse trading.

Why this rule exists: Hedging eliminates risk assessment. Alpha is evaluating your ability to manage directional risk and make trading decisions, not your ability to construct risk-free positions through offsetting exposure.

4. Account Rolling & Account Stacking

What's prohibited:

Taking max leverage positions with no stop loss, using DLL as stop
Repeatedly buying evaluations, taking all-or-nothing trades until one hits
Passing multiple evaluations, storing them, rotating through as you hit MLL on each
"Gambling" approach: max contracts, no plan, hoping for lucky trade

What's allowed:

Running 2-3 evaluations simultaneously with legitimate strategies
Passing multiple evaluations and trading them actively (not storing as backup)
Taking calculated risks with proper stop losses

Where the line sits:

Prohibited - Account Rolling: You buy $50K evaluation for $79. Day one, you enter 5 NQ contracts (max allowed) with no stop loss, targeting 40-point move. If it works, you pass immediately with $4,000 profit. If it fails, you hit MLL. You cancel, buy another $50K eval, repeat. After 8 attempts, one trade hits and you pass.

Prohibited - Account Stacking: You pass 6 evaluations over 2 months but only activate 3 (Alpha's limit). You store the other 3 passed-but-not-activated evals. When you hit MLL on funded Account 1, you activate stored eval #4. When Account 2 fails, you activate eval #5. You're rotating through stockpiled passes.

Allowed: You run 2 evaluations simultaneously, both using your proven day trading strategy. You pass both in 3 weeks, activate both, trade both actively. If one hits MLL, you accept the loss and continue trading the other. No stockpiling, no gambling—just legitimate multi-account trading.

Why this rule exists: Account rolling is pure gambling, not trading. Alpha wants sustainable strategies, not lottery-ticket approaches. Account stacking suggests you're passing evals through luck or manipulation, then using stored passes as insurance against MLL violations.

5. Order Book Manipulation & Spamming

What's prohibited:

Excessive order stacking (20+ limit orders at various prices simultaneously)
Order book spamming to manipulate fills
Placing multiple limit orders at identical price to game execution
Exploiting sim environment's order handling

What's allowed:

Reasonable DCA (dollar-cost averaging) with 2-4 staged entries
Bracket orders (entry, stop, target)
Scaling into positions with planned entry levels

Where the line sits:

Prohibited: You place 15 buy limit orders for NQ: 1 contract at 16,250, 1 at 16,249, 1 at 16,248... down to 16,236. All 15 orders are live simultaneously. Market drops filling 12 orders, you're now long 12 NQ contracts with averaged entry. You've spammed the order book exploiting sim fill logic.

Allowed: You're scaling into NQ position. You buy 2 contracts at 16,250. If it drops to 16,245, you buy 2 more (total: 4 contracts). If it drops further to 16,240, you buy final 2 (total: 6). You're executing staged entries based on price levels, not spamming dozens of simultaneous orders.

Why this rule exists: Live markets don't fill the way sims do. Placing 20 simultaneous limit orders in live trading creates different execution behavior than sims. Alpha wants strategies that translate to real capital.

6. Copy Trading Rules: Single Trader, Multiple Accounts

What's allowed:

Copying your own trades across your own Alpha accounts
Using built-in copy features (ProjectX, Tradovate)
Manual copying (executing same trades across accounts yourself)

What's prohibited:

Copying trades from external signal provider
Group trading (coordinating with friends/traders on shared strategies)
Automated copy trading from third-party traders

Critical implementation rule: Use your smallest account as "leader" account. If accounts have different leverage or buying power, trades may not copy properly.

Example setup:

Account A: $50K (leader) — you manually trade this account
Account B: $100K (follower) — copies Account A trades
Account C: $100K (follower) — copies Account A trades

You execute 2 NQ contracts on $50K leader account. Copy software replicates to $100K accounts (4 NQ contracts each, scaled proportionally). This is compliant—single trader, your accounts, your decisions.

Prohibited setup:You join "NQ Scalpers Discord" where leader calls trades. You copy those trade signals to your Alpha accounts. This violates—you're not executing your own strategy, you're following external signals.

7. VPN Usage & IP Violations

What's prohibited:

Using VPN to hide or change IP address
Attempting to circumvent geographic restrictions
Masking your actual location

What's allowed:

Using VPS (Virtual Private Server) for stable trading connection
Trading from different physical locations (home, office, travel)
Multiple accounts from same IP (your household/office)

Why VPN is banned: Alpha monitors for patterns suggesting traders are sharing accounts, using banned jurisdictions, or engaging in coordinated trading. VPN usage obscures these detection methods.

What Happens When You Violate

Alpha's enforcement is immediate and final:

Immediate account termination — no warnings, no second chances
All profits voided — funded account with $8,000 profit? It's gone
Evaluation disqualification — passed eval awaiting activation? Denied
Potential permanent ban — serious violations may blacklist you entirely

Recent violations aren't forgiven: "I didn't know" doesn't work. You agreed to terms at signup. Ignorance isn't defense.

Accidental violations get same treatment: You accidentally reversed hedged across accounts not realizing the prohibition. Same termination. Intent doesn't matter—violation is violation.

How to Stay Compliant While Trading Aggressively

✅ Aggressive but compliant trading:

Execute 40-60 manual trades daily with varied hold times (2 minutes to 2 hours)
Scalp 8-15 tick NQ moves with 1-3 minute average holds
Run 2-3 funded accounts independently without deliberate hedging
Use semi-automated alerts that you manually execute
Scale into positions with 2-4 staged entries
Trade maximum allowed contracts (10 on $100K) with proper stops

❌ Aggressive crossing into prohibited:

Execute 120 automated trades daily with 45-second average holds
Scalp 3-6 tick moves with 30-second holds consistently
Deliberately hedge long Account A, short Account B
Run fully automated bot executing without your intervention
Spam 20+ limit orders simultaneously
Take max leverage with no stop, using DLL as risk management

Bottom Line: Trade Real Market Movement, Not Platform Mechanics

Alpha's prohibited practices target one thing: traders exploiting simulated environment features that don't exist in live markets. Zero slippage, perfect fills, instant execution, unlimited order placement—these sim features enable strategies that fail when real capital deploys.

If your strategy relies on sub-2-minute holds capturing 2-4 ticks 100+ times daily, it's exploiting sim fills, not trading actual market movement. If you're hedging across accounts creating risk-free scenarios, you're not demonstrating trading ability. If you're gambling on max leverage hoping for one lucky trade, you're not building sustainable edge.

Trade like you would with your own $100,000 in live capital. Use realistic stop losses. Hold positions long enough to let them develop. Execute with plan and purpose, not just rapid-fire hoping for favorable fills.

That approach keeps you compliant while allowing aggressive, active trading. Cross the line into exploitation, and your account disappears without warning—along with all accumulated profits.

Stay on the right side.