Copy Trading
Automatically mirroring another trader's positions in real time — typically banned on prop firm evaluations due to correlated risk.
Definition
Copy trading is a setup where one account automatically replicates the trades of another account in real time — same entries, same exits, proportional position sizing. It can be run through a platform feature (MetaTrader's signal service, ZuluTrade, Myfxbook), a dedicated copier EA, or a shared account login. Most prop firms ban copy trading on evaluations and many ban it on funded accounts as well, for a specific reason: a single trader running the same signal across 50 accounts creates 50 correlated blowups when the strategy loses, and 50 payout requests at once when it wins.
Example
Why It Matters
Copy trading is one of the fastest ways to lose multiple challenge fees in a single enforcement action. Firms detect it through trade-timing correlation across accounts, IP-address matches, and shared payment methods. The rule is usually worded as 'no identical trading across accounts' — which covers not just deliberate copy trading, but also a trader running the same strategy manually across two of their own accounts. Even legitimate signal-service subscribers are at risk if the signal provider has many subscribers on the same firm.