“Can I hold over the weekend?” is one of the first questions traders ask before buying a challenge, and prop firm weekend holding rules answer it differently by firm, account stage and instrument. Some firms close every position on Friday afternoon, some allow holding only on certain account types, and many crypto-native firms never close positions for the weekend at all.
Even where holding is allowed, the weekend changes the risk. This guide explains the common rule types, the two different kinds of weekend risk — gaps and thin liquidity — and how QATS handles crypto and TradFi perpetuals.
Why weekend rules exist
Traditional markets close from Friday evening to Sunday evening. Anything that happens in between — an election result, a policy announcement, a geopolitical shock — is priced in at the reopen, and the first price can be far from the last one. A stop loss cannot fill inside that gap; it fills at the first available price.
For a prop firm, that means a position can lose much more than its planned risk with no chance to exit. Weekend rules cap that tail risk. On CFD accounts some firms also want to avoid weekend swap charges and the wide spreads brokers quote while the underlying market is shut.
Common prop firm weekend holding rules
- Allowed: positions may stay open through the weekend, and the normal loss limits apply.
- Forced close: open positions are closed automatically before the Friday close, sometimes at a fixed time.
- Account-type rule: holding is allowed on swing or evaluation accounts but not on a standard funded account, or the reverse.
- Holding-time limit: a position may stay open only for a set number of days, weekend or not.
- Weekend conditions: crypto CFDs keep trading, but with broker-set spreads or lower leverage until Monday.
Weekend rules at firms we compare
| Firm | Weekend or holding rule |
|---|---|
| QATS | No forced weekend close on the current Crypto and TradFi plans. Crypto perpetuals trade 24/7, with crypto risk days measured on UTC. |
| Hola Prime | Some funded accounts restrict trading around high-impact news and close positions before the weekend (reported by an independent review site). |
| BitFunded | BitFunded limits how long positions can be held: 10 days on major crypto, 7 days on minor crypto and 5 days on TradFi markets. |
Crypto: 24/7 means the weekend counts
Crypto perpetuals never close. On QATS Crypto every day of the week is a risk day measured on UTC, so a Saturday loss counts toward the 4% daily limit exactly like a Tuesday loss, and the end-of-day trailing floor can move at each daily close, weekends included. A weekend day with a filled trade also counts toward the 2 minimum trading days.
The weekend risk in crypto is not a gap but thin liquidity. Fewer participants mean shallower order books, so a large order or a wave of liquidations can move price further than it would on a weekday, at any hour. A stop has to be on the book before you step away: an alert you intend to act on is not a stop.
Funding also keeps accruing on open perpetual positions through the weekend, and on QATS it is part of account P&L, so a position held for two extra days pays or earns two extra days of funding.
TradFi perpetuals: open all weekend, underlying closed
QATS TradFi evaluations cover 33 perpetuals on indices, metals, energy and stocks. The perpetuals trade around the clock, but the stocks and index funds they follow trade in New York hours and are closed at weekends. Over the weekend the book is thinner and spreads are wider, and a position held through it meets Monday’s opening price, which can be far from Friday’s close.
That is classic gap risk with a twist: the perpetual can drift on weekend sentiment and then jump again when the underlying market reopens. Treat a stock or index perpetual held over the weekend like a futures position held through a closure, and size for the gap rather than for the stop.
TradFi risk days on QATS roll on Chicago time, and the evaluation has no separate daily cap: the maximum loss, 4% on the $25K account, is the only limit that can end an attempt.
How to size a weekend position
Size from the gap you can survive, not from your normal stop. Estimate a plausible adverse move for the instrument between Friday and the reopen, multiply it by the position size, and make sure that loss fits inside your personal daily stop and well inside the remaining maximum loss.
Illustration on a QATS $25K TradFi account with a $1,000 maximum loss: a $10,000 index perpetual position that opens 3% lower on Monday loses $300, or 30% of the whole allowance, before you can react.
- Reduce size into Friday rather than carrying a full weekday position.
- Keep a hard stop on the book for crypto; for TradFi perpetuals, assume the stop can fill beyond its price at the reopen.
- Count correlated positions together: long SPY and QQQ perpetuals over a weekend is one bet on the US open.
- Know where your trailing floor will sit after the next daily close.
- If a day trade has not worked by Friday, close it; the weekend is not a reason to give it more time.
Checklist before you buy
- Is weekend holding allowed on the evaluation and on the funded account?
- Are positions closed automatically, and at what time?
- Do daily limits count weekend days, and in which time zone?
- Is there a maximum holding time per position?
- Do spreads, leverage or funding change at weekends?
Frequently asked questions
01Can you hold trades over the weekend with a prop firm?
Many firms allow it, but forex and CFD firms often restrict it on some account types or close positions before the Friday close. Many crypto-native firms allow weekend holding because perpetual futures never close, though some cap how long a position may stay open.
02Does QATS close positions on Friday?
No forced weekend close is set on the current QATS plans. Crypto perpetuals trade 24/7, and your plan’s loss limits apply on weekend days as on weekdays. Rules & objectives shows any session restriction on your account.
03What is weekend gap risk?
It is the risk that a market reopens far from where it closed, so a stop fills at the first available price rather than at its level. It applies to markets that close, such as stocks and indices, and to instruments that follow them.
04Do weekends count as trading days on a crypto prop account?
At firms that run crypto 24/7, a weekend day with a trade often counts like any other day. On QATS Crypto a day with a filled trade counts toward the 2 minimum trading days, weekends included.
Educational content, not investment advice. QATS evaluations and initial funded accounts are simulated; payouts depend on eligibility, verification and the applicable agreement.