Published program rules
Choose one of two evaluation paths. Every active Black Vault evaluation has no activation fee and a clearly published maximum-loss rule. A daily loss limit is optional and shown before checkout.
Effective November 6, 2026, at 10:51 PM CST (November 7, 2026, 04:51 UTC).
Each account is eligible for a maximum of five completed payouts. After the fifth payout, that account is retired and the trader is invited to a live trading account.
The invitation begins the separate live-account onboarding process; it does not itself open a live account or replace the applicable live-account agreements and eligibility checks.
Traders must record at least one trade on an active account during each calendar month—the first through the last day of the month. If no trades are recorded across a trader’s accounts during a calendar month, all of that trader’s accounts will be closed. No exceptions apply.
Genuine manual scalping is allowed. A trade lasting five seconds or less is not automatically a violation. Never hold a losing trade open just to satisfy a timer. Manual review distinguishes legitimate trading from prohibited activity, such as automation, delayed-price exploitation or unrealistic simulated-fill exploitation.
For each account’s payout cycle, divide winning profit from trades held five seconds or less by all winning profit, after commissions and fees. Losing trades are excluded from both totals. This calculation does not use profit above the $2,100 target.
Below 30%: no short-duration percentage warning. From 30% through 50%: advisory warning only, with no penalty. Above 50%: manual review. Crossing 50% alone does not cause profit forfeiture, payout denial, a trading-day restart or account closure.
The first confirmed finding of prohibited activity results in a written warning identifying the trades and prohibited behavior, with no profit forfeiture. If the same prohibited activity continues after that warning, profits attributable to that continued activity are forfeited and the affected account is closed. Unrelated profits are not automatically forfeited; any remaining payout must satisfy the account’s other requirements.
An advisory percentage warning is not a confirmed-violation warning. You receive the identified trades and an explanation of any finding or penalty, and may appeal through a support ticket. Drawdown limits, position limits and the separate 30% per-trade funded-risk rule remain in place. Account sharing, prohibited hedging, automation and system exploitation remain prohibited.
This replaces the short-duration payout rule for accounts originally purchased on or after November 1, 2026. Earlier original purchases remain exempt, including resets. The revised measurement applies only to trades closed from the effective time onward.
End-of-day trailing drawdown
Complete at least two qualifying trading days and satisfy the 50% CONSISTENCY RULE. The trailing floor recalculates after the session closes and stops at the starting balance. Intraday gains do not raise that floor during the same session. Above 50% means continue trading; it does not breach the account.
| Simulated account | Profit target | Maximum loss | Maximum position |
|---|---|---|---|
| $25,000 | $1,500 | $1,000 | 2 minis / 20 micros |
| $50,000 | $3,000 | $2,000 | 5 minis / 50 micros |
| $100,000 | $6,000 | $3,000 | 6 minis / 60 micros |
| $150,000 | $9,000 | $4,500 | 10 minis / 100 micros |
Intraday trailing drawdown
Complete at least two qualifying trading days and satisfy the 50% CONSISTENCY RULE. No single profitable trading day may account for more than 50% of the total net profit used to satisfy the evaluation profit target. The trailing floor follows intraday high-water equity, including realized and unrealized results. Above 50% means continue trading; it does not breach the account.
| Simulated account | Profit target | Maximum loss | Maximum position |
|---|---|---|---|
| $25,000 | $1,500 | $1,000 | 2 minis / 20 micros |
| $50,000 | $3,000 | $2,000 | 5 minis / 50 micros |
| $100,000 | $6,000 | $3,000 | 6 minis / 60 micros |
| $150,000 | $9,000 | $4,500 | 10 minis / 100 micros |
After an evaluation pass
No daily-profit consistency rule applies. After a verified Vault EOD or Vault Intraday pass, the same-size simulated funded account uses the published funded drawdown, buffer, profitable-day, minimum-request, payout-cap, and per-trade risk requirements. Evaluation consistency does not carry forward.
Funded-stage payout rule
A trader may not risk more than 30% of the simulated funded account's current buffer on one trade, including scale-ins that form the same trade. This rule is shown during evaluation for advance notice but does not apply to evaluation trading. A confirmed funded-stage violation makes the affected payout request ineligible. Under the updated terms, it restarts payout qualification at 0 of 5 completed qualifying days; the account balance and remaining buffer are retained. The next qualifying day is Day 1, and another confirmed violation starts the count over. It is not an automatic hard account breach. This payout-qualification check applies only when the account is currently at or above its signed funded-buffer target, and only to trades opened at or above that target; for a $50K account, that threshold is $52,100. Below it, the separate intraday trailing drawdown still applies. Read the clarification and acceptance/effective-date details. Existing traders must accept the update before its new restart provision applies; previously submitted requests retain their original terms.
Vault Payout processing
Daily Payouts coming soon. Eligibility starts the review. Payment delivery follows after approval and release.
After Black Vault receives a complete and eligible first Vault Payout request, allow up to 21 business days for review and payment release. This window may include identity and KYC verification, required tax or agreement review, trade-log and rule-compliance review, fraud or security review, and bank-account linking. Business days exclude weekends and U.S. federal bank holidays. After release, the receiving bank or payment network controls deposit and transfer posting speed, which may add delivery time.
Subsequent complete and eligible requests are generally processed faster after initial verification and bank linking are on file, but a shorter processing time is not guaranteed. Any request may require additional review when information changes or cannot be verified.
Vault Direct
Vault Direct has no evaluation phase. Every size uses the funded intraday trailing rule, a buffer equal to maximum loss plus $100, a permanent floor $100 above starting balance, the published initial and later payout objectives, no daily-profit consistency rule, and 5 days with at least $150 net profit each for payout qualification.
| Simulated account | Maximum loss / buffer | Lock trigger / permanent floor | Initial / later payout objective |
|---|---|---|---|
| $25,000 | $1,000 / $1,100 | $26,100 / $25,100 | $1,500 / $1,250 |
| $50,000 | $2,000 / $2,100 | $52,100 / $50,100 | $3,000 / $2,500 |
| $100,000 | $3,000 / $3,100 | $103,100 / $100,100 | $6,000 / $3,500 |
| $150,000 | $4,500 / $4,600 | $154,600 / $150,100 | $9,000 / $4,500 |
Optional Daily Loss Limit
The optional DLL is $600 / $1,200 / $1,800 / $2,700 for 25K / 50K / 100K / 150K. Reaching it pauses trading for that session. It does not replace the separate maximum-loss rule and is not by itself an account breach.
Consistency rules
All reconciled closed trades assigned to the same trading date are netted first. Trading dates use America/Chicago time with a 5:00 p.m. session boundary; trades at or after that boundary belong to the following trading date, with weekends advancing to the next weekday.
All Vault EOD and Vault Intraday evaluations. A $1,500 best profitable day requires at least $3,000 total net profit. If the result is above 50%, continue trading.
Evaluation consistency ends after a verified pass. Earned simulated funded accounts and Vault Direct accounts do not use a daily-profit consistency percentage.
5 days with at least $150 net profit each are required for payout qualification.
Account conduct
Self-copying across your own accounts is allowed within the published limit. Cross-trader copying and coordinated group trading are not.
Do not hold or coordinate opposing or substantially offsetting positions intended to neutralize risk across your own accounts, another trader's accounts, another firm, or correlated products.
You may copy your own trades across unlimited Black Vault accounts owned by you and linked to your verified trader identity. You may not copy another trader, allow another person to copy you, share or coordinate entries with a group, or control another trader's account.
Genuine manual scalping is allowed. A trade lasting five seconds or less is not automatically a violation. Never hold a losing trade open just to satisfy a timer. Manual review distinguishes legitimate trading from prohibited activity, such as automation, delayed-price exploitation or unrealistic simulated-fill exploitation. Below 30%: no short-duration percentage warning. From 30% through 50%: advisory warning only, with no penalty. Above 50%: manual review. Crossing 50% alone does not cause profit forfeiture, payout denial, a trading-day restart or account closure. A supported self-copy tool may mirror manually initiated orders across the trader’s own eligible accounts. The first confirmed finding of prohibited activity results in a written warning identifying the trades and prohibited behavior, with no profit forfeiture. If the same prohibited activity continues after that warning, profits attributable to that continued activity are forfeited and the affected account is closed. Unrelated profits are not automatically forfeited; any remaining payout must satisfy the account’s other requirements.
Do not exploit delayed or incorrect prices, unrealistic fills, platform defects, data-feed differences, order-routing behavior, or any technical condition that does not represent ordinary market execution.
Use only your assigned identity, credentials, and accounts. Do not sell, transfer, lend, share, or permit another person to access or trade them.
Do not submit deceptive information, coordinate artificial activity, misuse payments, evade eligibility controls, or create a misleading performance record.
Breach vs. qualification
Reaching or crossing the applicable maximum-loss floor, exceeding the maximum position, or violating a prohibited practice can breach the account. Missing a consistency percentage, a profitable-day count, a payout objective, a funded buffer, or the minimum request means the account is not yet qualified—continue trading under the rules. Black Vault uses the accepted product rules and reconciled provider records, not unpublished restrictions, to determine status.
Account ownership
You may purchase and hold unlimited evaluations. You may have at most five concurrent funded accounts; pending funded activations reserve capacity. A verified pass waits when no funded slot is available. Once a funded slot is offered, you have 30 days to activate it. There is no monthly fee to hold a waiting pass. Existing activation fees, identity checks, account rules, and trading restrictions still apply.
Self-copying is permitted across unlimited accounts owned by the same verified trader. The five-account limit applies only to concurrent funded slots, including reservations. Accounts under a daily trading pause or an administrative lock still occupy funded capacity; those states do not free a funded slot.
Current WealthCharts permissions
Black Vault currently permits only the following ten futures products. Your selected account’s mini and micro position limits still apply.
Standard Gold (GC), standard Crude Oil (CL), and products outside this list are not permitted. Exchange connectivity or a symbol appearing in a platform search does not grant trading permission.
The short-duration example reflects the policy effective November 6, 2026, at 10:51 PM CST. The separate funded-risk examples use a $50,000 funded account. Your applicable Account Schedule and rule versions remain available.
For each account’s payout cycle, divide winning profit from trades held five seconds or less by all winning profit, after commissions and fees. Losing trades are excluded from both totals. This calculation does not use profit above the $2,100 target.
Example: $600 in short-duration winning profit divided by $2,000 in total winning profit equals 30%: an advisory warning, with no penalty.
Below 30%: no short-duration percentage warning. From 30% through 50%: advisory warning only, with no penalty. Above 50%: manual review. Crossing 50% alone does not cause profit forfeiture, payout denial, a trading-day restart or account closure.
Moving a stop to breakeven does not close a trade. A zero-profit exit contributes no winning profit. Never hold a losing trade open to satisfy a timer.
The current funded buffer is current account equity minus the applicable drawdown floor. One trade, including scale-ins forming the same position campaign, may risk no more than 30% of that buffer unless the signed Account Schedule sets a lower limit.
The $52,100 funded-buffer target determines when this payout check applies: the current balance must be at or above that target, and the trade must also have opened at or above it. It is not the floor used in the percentage calculation. Below the target, separate drawdown and account controls still apply.
Assuming the floor has locked at $50,100 and there is no open P&L:
| Balance / equity | Buffer above $50,100 floor | 30% limit |
|---|---|---|
| $52,200 | $2,100 | $630 |
| $52,600 | $2,500 | $750 |
| $53,000 | $2,900 | $870 |
These are maximum risk calculations, not suggested position sizes or payout amounts. Actual equity and the applicable floor govern; open P&L can change the buffer.
At a $53,000 balance, $900 is above the $52,100 target. That is not a guaranteed payment. Request minimums and caps, trader share, completed qualifying days, and all remaining accepted requirements still apply. The $870 risk limit in the table is not a payout amount.