Transparency is a buzzword in prop trading. Actual transparency, clear documentation with concrete numbers, is far rarer once you look beyond marketing pages.
AquaFunded, a Dubai-based prop firm founded in 2023, is built around publicly available rulebooks. You can see the trading parameters before you pay anything. Instead of vague promises, you get specific drawdown limits, defined profit targets, and clearly stated consistency requirements where they apply.
That matters because you can evaluate whether your strategy actually fits before you spend money and weeks on an evaluation you were never designed to pass.
One important point up front: “funded” here is simulated. You trade on real market quotes, but with virtual funds. Payouts are tied to performance under the rule set, not to you placing trades with live firm capital.
The firm offers both instant funding for traders who want fast access and traditional challenge- based programs for traders who prefer structured validation. Profit splits scale up to 100% with an upgrade, and traders can choose from four different platforms. No forced learning curve disrupting your execution.
We reviewed AquaFunded’s rule set against what most prop firms actually publish. The difference is immediate. Clear boundaries upfront, rather than loose guidelines that leave traders guessing what might trigger an account closure.
That clarity alone makes AquaFunded worth examining in detail.
Capital partnerships only work when risk is clearly allocated. If you do not understand the structure, you cannot make a clean decision.
On your side, risk is capped at the upfront entry fee. Depending on account size, it ranges from roughly $60 for smaller accounts to about $2,400 for the $400K tier. That fee is your maximum downside.
Breach the account and you lose the entry cost, and nothing more. No additional charges. No clawbacks. No surprise fees later. No ongoing subscriptions draining you monthly. Your downside is capped the moment you pay.
On the firm’s side, the “risk” is not market exposure from deploying your trades. It’s operational exposure: managing a large trader base, enforcing the rules consistently, and paying out profitable traders without letting the system get abused.
That’s why the boundaries are tight and the enforcement is strict. Profitable trading inside those boundaries creates alignment: you get payouts, and the firm earns its share through the profit split.
The incentives align by design. They do not win when you blow up. They win when you operate inside the rules and stay profitable.
Platform access includes cTrader for ECN-style execution, MT5 for familiarity, TradeLocker for modern UI preferences, and MatchTrader for flexibility across trading styles. Use what you already know. No mandatory transition period learning new hotkeys or fighting unfamiliar order entry.
Support operates 24/7 across time zones, and the firm lists a physical office in Dubai Silicon Oasis. If something goes wrong, you are not dealing with a faceless inbox and nothing else.
Program selection depends on your experience level and validation needs.
Instant funding removes the evaluation phase entirely. Capital access is available quickly after setup. No waiting weeks to prove what you already know.
To offset skipped validation, risk parameters are tighter. Drawdowns are narrower, demanding precise execution and disciplined risk control. Clean risk management is not optional. It’s the price of immediate access.
The Standard configuration suits most methodologies, while the Pro version adds consistency tracking for traders with smoother equity curves. If you rely on occasional big wins, Standard keeps your path clearer. If you grind profits steadily, Pro rewards that stability.
This route fits experienced traders with documented performance. Strategy validation already exists, execution precision comes from repetition, and risk management runs on habit.
Challenge programs provide structured validation before funding, with multiple configurations to match different timelines and preferences.
Step offers the fastest evaluation path.
Step provides industry-standard validation depth.
Step delivers extended feedback through multiple checkpoints across varying market conditions.
More phases increase thoroughness but extend the timeline. Choose 1-Step for speed, 3-Step for maximum validation, or 2-Step for balance.
If you’re confident, compress the timeline. If you’re still refining, use the evaluation to pressure- test your system before money and momentum are on the line.
TryAqua allows full platform access for $1. Traders can test execution speed, verify drawdown tracking, and confirm how rules behave in real time with negligible risk. That’s the difference between informed commitment and expensive guesswork.
Two configurations address different trading styles.
Standard requires a 9% profit target. Daily drawdown is capped at 3%, with a 6% maximum enforced via trailing logic. As equity grows, the trailing limit rises until it locks at the starting balance after roughly 6% profitability. That means one bad morning can’t wipe out two weeks of disciplined gains. Your risk tightens as your equity grows, instead of staying wide.
Daily limits reset at 00:00 UTC, using the balance and equity logic defined for the model. There’s no consistency rule here, which matters if your edge concentrates profits into fewer sessions. Breakouts, momentum bursts, news spikes, you are not penalized for how your edge naturally distributes returns.
Pro lowers the profit target to 6% while maintaining the same 3% daily and 6% max trailing limits. It introduces a five-day minimum and enforces a 25% consistency rule at the funded stage. No single day can exceed 25% of a payout cycle’s total profit.
Violations delay withdrawals until additional trading reduces concentration. If your strategy naturally produces smooth, incremental gains, you may never feel this rule. If you swing for occasional home runs, you will.
Trailing drawdowns are a different game than static limits. Instead of staying fixed, they move with your equity growth and can lock in gains rather than simply cap losses.
2-Step Standard sets an 8% target in Phase 1 and 5% in Phase 2. Drawdowns are static: 5% daily and 8% maximum, calculated from the starting balance. Both phases use identical limits, and no consistency rule applies. You always know exactly where you stand. No moving math.
Both phases use identical rules. You can press opportunities when conditions are right. If you see a setup, you take it.
2-Step Pro raises the first-phase target to 10% while keeping Phase 2 at 5%. It applies 5% daily and 10% max drawdowns using trailing logic. A 25% consistency rule applies at the funded stage.
You get more operational space as equity grows, but you’re expected to demonstrate smoother, repeatable performance. The firm wants to see that your edge is a process, not a lucky run.
Minimum trading days differ: three for 1-Step, five per phase for 2-Step, and none for 3-Step.
The 3-Step program adds additional evaluation phases before funding. There are no minimum trading days, allowing you to control pacing entirely. You’re not racing a clock, so you don’t need to manufacture setups that aren’t there.
The benefit is extended validation across diverse conditions, producing more complete performance feedback before you scale up. Better to discover your system breaks in chop during a small evaluation than after you have momentum and expectations.
Accounts range from $2.5K to $400K, with pricing scaling by size and program:
$2.5K: ~$60 to $70
$10K: ~$70 to $160
$50K: ~$230 to $450
$100K: ~$370 to $760
$200K: ~$670 to $1,250
$400K: ~$2,400
Evaluation phases use 1:100 leverage on forex, offering flexibility without excessive amplification. Enough room to trade properly, not so much that one bad decision ends everything.
Daily loss limits reset at 00:00 UTC and are calculated using the balance and equity rules defined for the model. They include all activity: closed trades, floating P&L, swaps, and commissions. Nothing is hidden. If it affects your equity, it counts.
Maximum or total loss works differently. It does not reset daily. Depending on the program, it’s either:
Static, measured from the starting balance, or
Trailing, measured from your peak balance or equity logic Program-specific limits:
Step: 3% daily, 6% max trailing
Step Standard: 5% daily, 8% max static 2-Step Pro: 5% daily, 10% max trailing
Breaching either limit results in immediate account closure. No appeals. No do-overs. That firmness is what keeps the rule set enforceable and predictable. You know the line. Don’t cross it.
No consistency rules apply to 1-Step Standard, 2-Step Standard, or any 3-Step program. You can concentrate profits however your strategy naturally performs.
Step Pro and 2-Step Pro enforce a 25% consistency rule at the funded stage. Single-day profits cannot exceed 25% of a payout cycle’s total. Violations delay withdrawals until additional trading redistributes profit.
Multi-day traders rarely encounter this. Event-driven traders concentrating gains around news releases will.
There are no maximum time limits on evaluations. You can finish in days or take months. That flexibility prevents forced trades in bad conditions. Market going sideways for weeks, you can wait.
Strict prohibitions include latency arbitrage, HFT exploitation, platform manipulation, and gambling-style sizing. These target demo-only exploits. If your edge only works in a gameable environment, it’s not an edge.
Copy trading is allowed, including between AquaFunded accounts and external accounts, as long as the accounts are legally bound to the same account holder.
Permitted during evaluation includes EAs, personal copy trading, news trading, weekend holding, hedging, stop-free trading, and unrestricted lot sizing. If your strategy is real and repeatable, it’s allowed.
Funded accounts introduce blackout windows around high-impact news (five minutes before and after). Profits during these windows may be removed, but accounts remain active. You don’t lose the account over it. You forfeit those specific profits.
Four platforms run concurrently: cTrader, MatchTrader, TradeLocker, and MT5. Choose based on familiarity rather than forced adoption. Your execution speed stays intact.
Forex is the primary focus, with indices and commodities available. Crypto is available too, including crypto instruments and crypto-specific program options. If crypto is part of your plan, verify the exact symbols on the platform and account type you choose, because availability can vary by setup.
Evaluation:
Forex 1:100
Indices/commodities 1:20
Crypto 1:2
Funded:
Forex 1:50
Indices/commodities 1:10
Crypto 1:2
Evaluation leverage is higher because your downside is capped at the fee. Once you move into a funded account, leverage is lower to keep risk tighter at scale. Higher leverage increases can be requested after demonstrating consistent profitability and disciplined risk control.
Execution uses raw spreads. What you see is what you pay. Approximate costs: $5 per forex lot, $5 on commodities, $0 on indices and crypto. No artificial lot-size caps. Trade the size your strategy requires, as long as it fits within drawdown limits.
Default profit split is 90%, with a 100% option via upgrade.
On refunds, the evaluation fee is refunded once you receive your fourth payout, and it’s not refundable if you hard-breach before that. So the fee can come back, but it’s not a first- withdrawal refund.
Payouts run bi-weekly, with the first available after 14 days. An upgrade reduces this to seven days. Faster access matters for compounding and for keeping cash from sitting idle.
They also advertise a “get paid in 24 hours” reward guarantee, but it’s based on business-hour processing. The timer runs on business days, pauses on weekends, and uses Dubai business hours. Miss that window, and they add an extra $1,000.
Withdrawals are available via bank transfer or cryptocurrency (Rise/Riseworks). Choose the method that fits your jurisdiction and planning.
Scaling increases accounts by 25% after 12% profit within three months, up to a $4M maximum. The path is documented and repeatable. Hit the requirement, get the increase.
AquaFunded’s main credibility signal is structural, not promotional. The parameters are published. The rules are explicit. The restrictions are spelled out before you pay.
Certain regions are restricted entirely, while others face instant-funding caps. Challenge programs remain broadly accessible. If instant funding is capped in your region, challenges may still be available.
AquaFunded stands out for documented transparency in an industry known for ambiguity. For cautious entry, TryAqua gives you a $1 testing ground. Program choice should reflect experience: instant funding for proven systems, 1-Step for speed, 2-Step for balance, and 3- Step for extended validation.
AquaFunded rewards disciplined traders who operate profitably within clearly defined rules. And crucially, those rules are actually documented
AquaFunded offers Instant Funding accounts (Standard and Pro), Challenge Pathways (1-Step, 2-Step, 3-Step), and the TryAqua $1 test program.
Instant Funding provides same-day capital access with tighter risk limits. Challenge accounts require completing evaluation phases before funding, with 1-step, 2-step, or 3-step variations depending on how much validation you want.
1-Step Standard: 3% daily, 6% max (trailing)
1-Step Pro: 3% daily, 6% max (trailing), 25% consistency rule on funded stage
2-Step Standard: 5% daily, 8% max (static), no consistency rule
2-Step Pro: 5% daily, 10% max (trailing), 25% consistency rule on funded stage
3-Step: Follows similar rules depending on Standard/Pro selection
Trailing drawdown locks in gains as equity rises. Daily drawdowns reset at 00:00 UTC.
Yes. The following are banned: latency arbitrage, high-frequency trading, platform manipulation, gambling trades, copy trading from external user accounts.
Fully allowed: Expert Advisors, trade copiers, copy trading, news trading, weekend holding, hedging within the same account, trading without stops, no maximum lot limits.
Yes. During funded accounts, trades cannot be opened or closed from 5 minutes before to 5 minutes after high-impact red-folder news or FOMC events. Profits from violations may be removed, but accounts do not auto-breach.
Platforms: cTrader, MatchTrader, TradeLocker, MT5. Instruments: forex, indices, commodities, and crypto.
Evaluation: Forex 1:100, Indices/Commodities 1:20, Crypto 1:2
Funded accounts: Forex 1:50, Indices/Commodities 1:10, Crypto 1:2
Leverage increases can be requested based on performance and risk management.
Profit splits: 90% default to trader, optional upgrade to 100%
Schedule: Standard bi-weekly (every 14 days), on-demand available with upgrade (first payout in 7 days)
Processing: 24 business hours, with $1,000 compensation if delayed
Methods: Bank transfer and cryptocurrency via Riseworks/Rise
Requirements: Balance above initial level, no rule violations, all positions flat, KYC completed
Yes. Accounts scale by 25% of the initial balance after generating 12% profit within three months. Maximum scaling reaches $4 million across accounts.
Yes. Completely restricted: Cuba, Iran, Syria, Pakistan, Vietnam, Kenya, Albania, Algeria, North Korea, Senegal.
Instant Funding accounts restricted to $50K in Thailand, Brazil, Bulgaria, Japan, Jordan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines.
$2.5K: ~$60-$70
$10K: ~$70-$160
$50K: ~$230-$450
$100K: ~$370-$760
$200K: ~$670-$1,250
$400K: ~$2,400
Minimum trading days:
1-Step: 3 days
2-Step: 5 days per phase
3-Step: No minimum
No maximum days. Traders can take as long as needed to complete evaluations while respecting rules.
Yes. 24/7 support is available across all time zones.
TryAqua is a $1 test program that allows traders to test platform mechanics and rules before committing to larger accounts.