Blue Guardian Futures Rules: Standard, Reserve, Express, Direct

Blue Guardian Futures rules are split across four plans, and the plan you pick decides which daily loss limit, consistency rule, and payout conditions you trade under. Standard, Reserve, Express, and Direct share the same four account sizes and the same 90/10 profit split, then differ on almost everything else. This guide covers every rule across all four plans so you know what you're signing up for before you buy.

How Blue Guardian Futures Works: Four Plans, Two Paths

Blue Guardian is a prop firm with separate CFD and futures programs. Everything below applies to the futures program only. You trade CME, CBOT, COMEX, and NYMEX futures in a simulated account and earn payouts once you're funded. Traders who show consistent performance on funded accounts can be reviewed for a live account with real capital.

There are four account models: Standard, Reserve, Express, and Direct. They give you two paths in:

• Evaluation (Standard, Reserve, and Express): Hit a 6% profit target in a one-phase Blue Guardian Futures evaluation, then move to a funded account where you trade for payouts.

• Instant funding (Direct): Skip the evaluation and start on a funded account right after purchase.

Every plan comes in $25K, $50K, $100K, and $150K sizes. Accounts are a one-time purchase with no monthly subscription, and there's no activation fee when you pass. If you breach a Standard, Reserve, or Express evaluation, you can reset it for a fee instead of buying a new account.

At checkout you choose between two platforms: Tradovate, which also gives you NinjaTrader and TradingView access, or DeepCharts. You can run as many evaluations as you want, but only five funded accounts can be active at once.

Blue Guardian Futures Plans Compared

The biggest differences in Blue Guardian Futures rules between plans come down to three things: when the consistency rule applies, whether you get a daily loss limit, and how payouts work once you're funded. Here's how they stack up.

Which plan fits comes down to how you trade.

Standard fits traders who can pass fast and then trade steadily. There's no consistency rule in the evaluation, so one or two big days can pass it, and it has the highest cap per payout of the four plans. Once you're funded, a 40% consistency rule applies to every payout cycle.

Reserve fits traders whose results swing from day to day. It's the only plan you can buy without a daily loss limit, and there's no consistency rule once you're funded. The consistency rule applies in the evaluation instead, at 40% or 50%.

Express fits traders who take smaller profits and want to withdraw often. You can request a payout daily, but the daily cap is the lowest payout cap of the four plans, and on the larger accounts the daily loss limit and max drawdown tighten once you're funded.

Direct fits traders who would rather pay more upfront than pass an evaluation. Its consistency rule is the strictest of the four, starting at 20% for the first payout, so your profit has to be spread across several days before you can withdraw.

Blue Guardian Futures Standard Rules

Standard has no consistency rule in the evaluation and adds a 40% consistency rule once you're funded. The max drawdown, daily loss limit, and max position are the same in both stages.

Standard Evaluation Rules

To pass a Standard evaluation, reach the profit target without hitting the max drawdown. There is no consistency rule and no minimum number of trading days, so the target can be hit in a single day. There is no time limit, but you have to place at least one trade every 30 calendar days or the account is breached for inactivity.

Hitting the max drawdown ends the account. The drawdown trails on your end-of-day closing balance, not intraday highs, but your open positions count against it, so a trade moving against you can breach the account before you close it. Once your closing balance reaches your starting balance plus your max drawdown plus $100 ($52,100 on a $50K account), the drawdown stops trailing and locks at your starting balance plus $100.

The daily loss limit is a soft breach. Hit it and your open positions close, the account is disabled for the rest of the day, and it's reinstated the next trading day. The $25K account has no daily loss limit, so the max drawdown is its only loss limit.

Once you reach the target, the account goes through a final review before you move to funded.

Standard Funded Account Rules

Pass the evaluation and you move to a funded account, where your loss limits and max position carry over and a 40% consistency rule kicks in.

The 40% consistency rule means no single trading day can make up more than 40% of your total profit in a payout cycle. If your best day is $2,000, you need at least $5,000 in total profit before you can request a payout. Breaking the rule doesn't breach the account. The payout request stays unavailable until more profit brings your best day back within 40%.

A funded account needs at least one trade every 7 calendar days. Go longer than that and the account is breached for inactivity.

If you breach a funded Standard account before its first payout, you can reactivate it for a fee instead of passing a new evaluation. Reactivation is available up to two times per account and for 30 calendar days after the breach.

Standard Payouts

Your first payout is available 3 days after your first funded trade. Your balance has to be above the buffer, and you can only withdraw profit above it. The 40% consistency rule also has to be met before the request opens. After any payout, your drawdown locks at your starting balance plus $100.

Blue Guardian Futures Reserve Rules

Reserve is the most customizable of the four plans. You choose whether the account has a daily loss limit and whether the evaluation uses a 40% or 50% consistency rule. You trade the full max position during the evaluation. Once you're funded, the consistency rule drops off and your contract limit starts lower, then scales back up as your balance grows.

Reserve Evaluation Rules

If you choose a daily loss limit, it's a soft breach: your open positions close, the account is disabled for the rest of the day, and it's reinstated the next trading day. Without one, the max drawdown is your only loss limit. Whichever you pick carries into the funded account.

The consistency rule caps your best day at 40% (a 3 Day Pass) or 50% (a 2 Day Pass) of your total profit. The 50% option includes a 1% cushion, so your best day can reach 51%. Going over the limit doesn't breach the account, but you can't pass until your best day is back within it.

To pass, reach the profit target without hitting the max drawdown and keep your best day within your consistency limit. There is no time limit, but you have to place at least one trade every 30 calendar days or the account is breached for inactivity.

Hitting the max drawdown ends the account. The drawdown trails on your end-of-day closing balance, not intraday highs, but your open positions count against it, so a trade moving against you can breach the account before you close it. Once your closing balance reaches your starting balance plus your max drawdown plus $100 ($52,100 on a $50K account), the drawdown stops trailing and locks at your starting balance plus $100.

Reserve Funded Account Rules

Pass the evaluation and you move to a funded account, where your loss limits carry over, the consistency rule drops off, and your contract limit starts to scale.

Contract size is the big change. A funded Reserve account starts below the evaluation's max position and unlocks more contracts as your end-of-day balance grows. A $50K account starts at 2 Minis and reaches its full 4 Minis after $2,000 in profit. The scaling section below has the full tier table.

A funded account needs at least one trade every 7 calendar days. Go longer than that and the account is breached for inactivity.

If you breach a funded Reserve account before its first payout, you can reactivate it for a fee instead of passing a new evaluation. Reactivation is available up to two times per account and for 30 calendar days after the breach.

Reserve Payouts

Reserve has no buffer. To request a payout, you need 5 winning days, each at or above the winning day minimum for your account size. The days don't have to be consecutive. From your second payout through your fifth, you also need net profit since your last payout of at least the amount in the table.

You can request up to 50% of your profit per payout, up to the cap. On a $50K account with $3,000 in profit, that's $1,500. With $5,000 in profit, 50% would be $2,500, so the $2,000 cap applies. The winning day count and net profit requirement reset after each approved payout. After any payout, your drawdown locks at your starting balance plus $100.

Blue Guardian Futures Express Rules

Express is built around daily payouts. You choose a 40% or 50% consistency rule for the evaluation, and it drops off once you're funded. You trade the full max position during the evaluation. Once you're funded, your contract limit starts lower, then scales back up as your balance grows.

Express Evaluation Rules

The daily loss limit is a soft breach: your open positions close, the account is disabled for the rest of the day, and it's reinstated the next trading day. The $25K evaluation has no daily loss limit, so the max drawdown is its only loss limit.

The consistency rule caps your best day at 40% (a 3 Day Pass) or 50% (a 2 Day Pass) of your total profit. Going over the limit doesn't breach the account, but you can't pass until your best day is back within it.

To pass, reach the profit target without hitting the max drawdown and keep your best day within your consistency limit. There is no time limit, but you have to place at least one trade every 30 calendar days or the account is breached for inactivity.

Hitting the max drawdown ends the account. The drawdown trails on your end-of-day closing balance, not intraday highs, but your open positions count against it, so a trade moving against you can breach the account before you close it. Once your closing balance reaches your starting balance plus your max drawdown plus $100 ($52,100 on a $50K account), the drawdown stops trailing and locks at your starting balance plus $100.

Express Funded Account Rules

Pass the evaluation and you move to a funded account, where the consistency rule drops off, your contract limit starts to scale, and your loss limits change on some account sizes.

The loss limits are the biggest change from the evaluation. The $25K account picks up a $500 daily loss limit, and on the $100K and $150K accounts both the daily loss limit and the max drawdown get smaller. The $50K stays the same.

Contract size changes too. A funded Express account starts below the evaluation's max position and unlocks more contracts as your end-of-day balance grows. The $25K is the exception and stays at 1 Mini. The scaling section below has the full tier table.

A funded account needs at least one trade every 7 calendar days. Go longer than that and the account is breached for inactivity.

If you breach a funded Express account before its first payout, you can reactivate it for a fee instead of passing a new evaluation. Reactivation is available up to two times per account and for 30 calendar days after the breach.

Express Payouts

Express lets you request a payout every day. Your balance has to be above the buffer, you can only withdraw profit above it, and each request has to be at least the minimum payout and no more than the max daily payout. After any payout, your drawdown locks at your starting balance plus $100.

From your second payout on, you need new profit equal to 50% of your previous payout before you can request again. If you take $1,100 on a $50K account, you need $550 in new profit before the next request.

Blue Guardian Futures Direct Rules

Direct skips the evaluation. You sign the trader agreement after purchase and start on a funded account, trading for payouts from day one. There's no profit target to pass, but Direct has the strictest consistency rule of the four plans, and it applies to every payout.

Direct Funded Account Rules

The consistency rule caps your best day at 20% of your total profit in the payout cycle for your first payout, 25% for your second, and 30% from your third payout on. Going over the limit doesn't breach the account, but you can't request a payout until your best day is back within it.

The daily loss limit is a soft breach: your open positions close, the account is disabled for the rest of the day, and it's reinstated the next trading day.

Hitting the max drawdown ends the account. The drawdown trails on your end-of-day closing balance, not intraday highs, but your open positions count against it, so a trade moving against you can breach the account before you close it. Once your closing balance reaches your starting balance plus your max drawdown plus $100 ($52,100 on a $50K account), the drawdown stops trailing and locks at your starting balance plus $100.

Your max position is the full amount from day one. Direct doesn't use contract scaling.

A funded account needs at least one trade every 7 calendar days. Go longer than that and the account is breached for inactivity.

Direct Payouts

Direct has no buffer. To request a payout, you need to hit the profit goal and keep your best day within the consistency limit for that payout: 20% for your first, 25% for your second, and 30% from your third on. On a $50K account, the profit goal is $3,000 for your first payout, then another $2,000 for each payout after that. The profit goal resets after every payout request. After any payout, your drawdown locks at your starting balance plus $100.

Because Direct's consistency limit changes with each payout, it's easy to lose track of where your best day stands. Tanto syncs your fills automatically and shows each day's close on a P&L calendar for each account, so you can check your best day against the limit for your next payout before you request it.

Blue Guardian Futures Payout Rules

Every funded Blue Guardian Futures account pays a 90/10 profit split. Before your first payout, you need to complete KYC.

You request payouts from your dashboard and get paid by Rise or crypto. The minimum withdrawal is $100 by crypto or $500 by Rise on Standard and Reserve, and $1,000 either way on Direct. Express sets its own minimum payout by account size, covered in the Express section. Every payout carries a 3% processing fee, so the amount you receive can be slightly lower than your payout certificate shows. Blue Guardian guarantees processing within 24 business hours, not counting weekends, holidays, or compliance reviews.

Blue Guardian Futures Scaling Plan

Scaling applies only to funded Reserve and Express accounts. Standard and Direct keep the same max position from the start, and Reserve and Express give you full size during the evaluation.

Once you're funded on Reserve or Express, your contract limit starts lower and steps up as your end-of-day balance grows. Limits update at the end of each day based on your closing balance, and if your balance closes back below a level, your limit can drop with it.

Reserve and Express use the same scaling table, with one difference: the $25K account. A funded Reserve $25K scales from 1 Mini to 2 Minis at +$1,500, while a funded Express $25K stays at 1 Mini the whole time.

Limits count all open positions at once, and 1 Mini equals 10 Micros, so you can mix them as long as the total stays within your limit. Orders that would put you over are rejected.

Blue Guardian Futures Drawdown Rules and Loss Limits

EOD Trailing Drawdown

All four plans use an end-of-day trailing drawdown. Your floor moves up only when you set a new highest end-of-day closing balance. It ignores unrealized profit during the session and never moves back down after a losing day. Your open positions still count against the floor, so a trade moving against you can breach the account before you close it.

The drawdown stops trailing once the floor reaches your starting balance plus $100. That happens when your closing balance reaches your starting balance plus your max drawdown plus $100. On a $50K Standard account with a $2,000 drawdown, a $52,100 close locks your floor at $50,100. From there, every dollar of profit widens the gap between your balance and the floor.

A payout also locks the floor at your starting balance plus $100, even if it hasn't reached that level yet.

Daily Loss Limit

Every daily loss limit at Blue Guardian is a soft breach. If your balance or equity falls below it, your open positions close, the account is disabled for the rest of the day, and it's reinstated the next trading day. Only the max drawdown ends an account.

Not every account has one. The $25K Standard account, the $25K Express evaluation, and Reserve accounts bought without a daily loss limit trade with the max drawdown as their only loss limit.

Consistency Rule

The rule compares your best day to your total profit. Going over it never breaches an account. In an evaluation, it holds up your pass. On a funded account, it holds up your payout.

Blue Guardian Futures Live Account Rules

The Live account is the last stage of the program. It trades real capital with real CME execution, and you can't buy one.

How You Qualify for Live

You enter Blue Guardian's Live Review Pool by reaching your fifth payout on a funded account, building significant lifetime payouts, showing exceptional performance on funded accounts, or having traded a Blue Guardian Live account before. Entering the pool doesn't guarantee a Live account. The risk team reviews each trader and makes the final call.

What Happens When You Move to Live

When you're approved, every funded account with at least one payout merges into a Live account. Funded accounts with no payouts don't move over, and any open evaluations are closed. Those accounts are refunded only if they have more than 50% of their max drawdown left. At 50% or less, they're closed without a refund.

The Live account starts at a $0 balance. Each funded account you bring over adds to your combined Live Drawdown, and that combined total sets your max position. For accounts bought after September 28, 2026, combined Live Drawdown is capped at $15,000 per Live account. If your eligible accounts add up to more than that, the total can be split across two Live accounts.

Three $50K accounts, for example, give you a $6,000 combined Live Drawdown and a max position of 6 Minis. Some highly volatile contracts have lower limits.

Live Account Rules

Live accounts pay a 90/10 profit split, with daily payouts and no payout caps. The drawdown is end-of-day, and there's no daily loss limit or consistency rule.

News trading is allowed on every funded plan but not on Live. Hedging is prohibited and can lead to permanent closure and a ban. If someone in your household is trading a Live account, no one else in the household can trade simulated Blue Guardian accounts.

If you request a payout before your balance exceeds your Live Drawdown, your drawdown floor locks at $100.

A breached Live account can't be reset or reactivated. You wait 28 days before buying a new evaluation, and repeated breaches from reckless trading can mean a longer cooldown.

Live Bonus

The first time you move to Live, you can earn a one-time bonus. Each time your cumulative net profit reaches 0.5x, 1x, and 1.5x your starting combined Live Drawdown, Blue Guardian deposits 25% of that drawdown into your account. With a $10,000 combined drawdown, that's $2,500 at $5,000, $10,000, and $15,000 in net profit, or $7,500 in total.

Bonus funds become withdrawable after 5 winning days, each with net profit of at least 1% of your starting combined drawdown (minimum $100), while the account is in profit. Your trading profits can be withdrawn at any time.

Turning Down Live

You don't have to trade Live. At the moment of your transition, you can take the Live Buyout instead: a one-time cash payout of 50% of your combined starting Live Drawdown, paid like a normal withdrawal. With a $10,000 combined drawdown, that's $5,000. Your accounts close afterward, and a 28-day cooldown applies before you can buy a new evaluation. The buyout is only offered at transition and only once per trader.

Blue Guardian Futures Prohibited Trading Practices

Blue Guardian bans strategies that take advantage of the simulated environment instead of trading the market. Breaking these rules can get profits removed, payouts denied, a passed evaluation refused funding, or the account terminated.

Microscalping. Scalping is allowed, but less than 50% of your total profit can come from trades held under 10 seconds. This applies in both the evaluation and funded stages.

Automated trading. Fully automated systems, bots, and AI trading are prohibited. Semi-automated trading is allowed only if you actively monitor and manage the trades yourself. High-frequency scalping systems that go over 200 trades a day are restricted.

Copy trading. You can copy trades between accounts you own, including your own accounts outside Blue Guardian. Copying other traders or signal providers is prohibited, and letting anyone else trade your account gets it terminated.

Hedging. You can't hold opposing positions in the same or closely correlated instruments, whether in one account, across your own accounts, or with another trader.

Order and fill exploits. Stacking multiple limit orders at the same price, targeting isolated fills in gapped or illiquid markets, using tight brackets to exploit the simulator's lack of slippage, and coordinating trades with others across accounts are all prohibited.

Martingale. Increasing your size after losses to win them back isn't allowed, and inconsistent sizing in general can trigger an account review.

Risk-to-reward. Your risk-to-reward can't be worse than 5:1. With a $100 profit target, your stop can't be more than $500 away. Mental stops are fine, but going past the limit can mean a warning or losing payout eligibility.

Stop losses. Stop losses aren't mandatory, but using your drawdown in place of a stop counts as gambling and can lead to an account review.

Other Blue Guardian Futures Rules

These rules apply to every plan.

News trading. You can trade through news on evaluations and funded accounts on all four plans. Live accounts are the exception, and news trading isn't allowed there.

Trading hours. Trading runs from 6:00 PM to 4:10 PM ET. Any open trades close automatically at 4:10 PM ET, and that auto-close doesn't count as a breach.

2% price limit. You can't trade within 2% of a CME price limit. CME updates price limits daily at 5:05 PM ET, and the overnight limit on equity index futures like ES and NQ is 7%.

Inactivity. Evaluations need at least one trade every 30 calendar days, and funded accounts need one every 7. Missing either breaches the account.

Account Limits

Evaluations: No limit. You can run as many as you want.

Funded: Up to 5 active at once. If passing an evaluation or buying a Direct account would put you over, the new account stays inactive until a slot opens.

Live: One, or two if your eligible funded accounts were bought after September 28, 2026 and add up to more than $15,000 in combined Live Drawdown.

Bottom Line

Blue Guardian Futures rules come down to which plan fits how you trade. Standard has the highest payout caps once you clear a 40% consistency rule, Reserve lets you drop the daily loss limit, Express pays out daily, and Direct skips the evaluation in exchange for the strictest consistency rule. Every plan shares a 90/10 split and an end-of-day trailing drawdown that locks at your starting balance plus $100. Rules can change, so check the Blue Guardian Futures help center before you buy.

By Team Tanto · Last updated: October 11, 2026