Swing traders hold positions for days rather than minutes, aiming to catch a larger part of a move. On a personal account that mainly takes patience and wide stops. At a swing trading prop firm, the same style also has to survive rules that were often written with intraday traders in mind.
Three mechanics decide whether a swing style fits an evaluation: how the maximum loss trails, whether holding through nights and weekends is allowed, and what it costs to carry a position from one day to the next.
Why intraday trailing drawdown is hard on swing trades
An intraday trailing limit follows your highest equity in real time, open profit included. Swing trades routinely give back part of an open gain before the move continues, and on a trailing-equity account every one of those pullbacks has already lifted the floor.
Example: a trade runs $600 in your favour, then retraces to $200 in profit. The floor has risen $600, so you now have $400 less room than when you opened the trade, without a single losing exit. For swing trades, look for static or end-of-day trailing drawdown instead.
End-of-day trailing: how it treats a multi-day hold
End-of-day trailing moves the floor only at the daily close, based on the end-of-day balance, so swings in open profit during the day no longer lift it. The floor is still tested against equity: an open loss deep enough to touch it breaches the account even if the trade would have recovered later.
QATS Crypto uses a 6% end-of-day trailing maximum loss that stops trailing at the starting balance. On the $10K account the floor starts at $9,400; once a day closes at $10,600 or higher, it locks at $10,000 and behaves like a static limit — the most comfortable state for multi-day positions. TradFi evaluations use the same end-of-day model, with a 4% maximum loss on the $25K account and no separate daily cap.
| Model | What moves the floor | Effect on a swing trade |
|---|---|---|
| Static | Nothing; fixed from the start | Most room once in profit, strictest at the start |
| Intraday trailing (equity) | Every new equity high, open profit included | Pullbacks in open profit use up room; hardest for multi-day holds |
| End-of-day trailing | The end-of-day balance | Open swings during the day do not lift the floor |
| End-of-day trailing that locks at the start (QATS) | End-of-day balance, until the floor reaches the starting balance | Turns static once you are far enough in profit |
Overnight and weekend holding rules
Firms handle multi-day risk differently. Some forex firms close positions before the weekend on certain accounts, and some futures firms require positions to be flat each day; our Topstep comparison records: CME futures; crypto only as Micro BTC/ETH, flat by 3:10 PM CT. Others cap holding time: BitFunded limits how long positions can be held: 10 days on major crypto, 7 days on minor crypto and 5 days on TradFi markets.
On QATS, crypto perpetuals trade around the clock, weekends included, and the current plans have no configured daily session halt and no rule that positions must be flat before one. The daily rollover — UTC for Crypto, 17:00 Chicago time for TradFi — is an accounting boundary for the daily loss, not a market closure. Weekend moves still count toward your limits, and liquidity is usually thinner then.
TradFi perpetuals track stocks, funds and commodities whose own markets close, so prices can jump when the underlying market reopens; check the Market calendar for your account before holding through a close. Also note that a QATS Crypto account with no trade for the inactivity period on its plan is closed, not breached.
Funding: the carrying cost of a multi-day hold
Perpetual futures exchange funding between longs and shorts at regular intervals, often every eight hours on major exchanges; depending on the rate and your side, you pay or receive it. For a scalper it rounds to nothing; on a position held a week it can be a real share of the profit.
On QATS, funding is part of account P&L: the daily loss and the maximum-loss floor include it, and the profit target is measured after fees and funding. The trade journal separates execution P&L from account P&L, including funding, so you can see what each hold cost to carry.
| Rate per interval | 1 day | 3 days | 7 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.01% every eight hours | $9 | $27 | $63 |
| 0.03% every eight hours | $27 | $81 | $189 |
Sizing a swing trade inside the rules
Wider stops need smaller positions. Size from the stop: position size = (balance × risk per trade) ÷ stop distance. On a $50K account, risking 0.5% ($250) with a 5% stop gives a $5,000 position — far below what leverage would allow, and that is the point.
Then plan for gaps: a stop can fill beyond its price after a fast move, so keep the total open risk of all swing positions well below the daily limit, and treat correlated coins as one position. On QATS Crypto, touching the 4% daily limit fails the evaluation, and the funded account has its own daily limit, so read it in Rules & objectives after you pass instead of reusing the evaluation figure.
Swing trading and the consistency rule
Swing P&L is lumpy: little for days, then one large day when a trade is closed. Best-day rules notice that. With a 40% rule on QATS Crypto (50% on TradFi), the day you close a big winner can be too large a share of total profit, and you keep trading until the total catches up.
The target also counts only closed trades, so open gains do not help you pass. Scaling out over two or three days spreads realised profit and keeps the best day smaller.
Checklist for choosing a swing trading prop firm
- Drawdown: static or end-of-day trailing, and does it stop trailing?
- Holding rules: overnight, weekend and any maximum holding time.
- Carrying cost: funding on perpetuals or swap on CFDs, and whether it counts toward the limits.
- Gap risk: size so a stop that fills late still sits inside the daily limit.
- Consistency: plan exits so one closing day does not dominate total profit.
Frequently asked questions
01Can you swing trade with a prop firm?
Yes, at most firms, but check four rules first: the drawdown type, overnight and weekend holding, any maximum holding time, and how funding or swap is charged. A swing style that works on a personal account can breach an intraday trailing limit without a losing trade.
02What drawdown type is best for swing trading?
Static drawdown gives the most room once you are in profit; end-of-day trailing is the next best because open profit does not lift the floor during the day. Intraday trailing on equity is the hardest model for multi-day holds.
03Can I hold positions over the weekend on QATS?
Crypto perpetuals trade around the clock, and the current QATS plans have no configured session halt or required flattening before one. Weekend moves count toward your daily and maximum loss, and TradFi perpetuals can jump when the underlying market reopens.
04Does funding count against the drawdown?
On QATS, yes: funding is part of account P&L, so it affects the daily loss, the maximum-loss floor and the net profit counted toward the target.
Educational content, not investment advice. QATS evaluations and initial funded accounts are simulated; payouts depend on eligibility, verification and the applicable agreement.