What counts as a trading day (UTC boundary)
Updated 2026-07-05
Quick answer
A trading day is any UTC calendar day (00:00–23:59:59 UTC) on which you place at least one qualifying trade. Days with no qualifying trade don't count, and merely logging in never counts.
- Boundary: UTC — not local, not exchange, not broker rollover.
- Qualifying trade: at least 0.5% of the phase or funded starting balance.
- Sub-0.5% trades are allowed but don't count toward the 5-day tally.
- Weekend days count if a market was open and you placed a qualifying trade (e.g. OTC).
- Placing multiple trades in the same UTC day still counts as ONE day.
Worked example — Straddling midnight UTC
You open a trade at 23:58 UTC on Monday and it settles at 00:03 UTC on Tuesday. The trade is credited to the day it settled → Tuesday. If it was your only trade that Monday, Monday does NOT count as a trading day.
Edge cases
- Do pending / open trades count as activity?
No. Only settled trades count. If you never settle a trade in a UTC day, no trading day is credited.
- Can I compress my 5 days into a weekend?
Only if OTC or other open markets are available and you place qualifying trades on 5 distinct UTC days.
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