VERSION HISTORY
Prohibited Conduct | Topstep Help Center
Fetches the article and compares it with Version 5.
▸Version 5October 1, 2026, 3:50 AM+1−1
Changes shown against Version 4.
What Is Prohibited Conduct?
- Unprofessional behavior — see Professional Behavior at Topstep
- Excessive purchases of Trading Combines or Resets
- Price exploitation — strategies designed to exploit errors in price display or data feed delays
- Disruptive practices — including spoofing
- Trading outside the best bid or offer
- Using an external or slow data feed to trade
- Coordinated trading — performing trades in concert with others (including unconnected accounts or third parties) to pool risk, hedge aggregate positions, or trade the same or opposite strategy simultaneously
- Cross-account hedging (single-user) — holding opposite positions across multiple accounts simultaneously
- Trades conflicting with Topstep’s Terms of Use
- Unfair technology — using software, AI, ultra-high speed systems, or mass data entry to gain an unfair advantage
- Trading inconsistent with real futures markets — or in a way that creates financial risk for Topstep
Section: What Is Prohibited Conduct?
− - Chargebacks or Disputes— filing a dispute against a payment to Topstep. Learn more here.
+ - Bad-Faith Disputes— filing a bad-faith dispute against a payment to Topstep, or improperly reversing a charge for services received. Before disputing a charge with your bank, please contact us; we can often resolve it faster. Learn more here.
- Exploiting platform deficiencies — using instruments or methods that misuse bugs, errors, or deficiencies in the platform
- Circumventing geographical or technical restrictions
- Holding a position within 2% of a product’s price lock limit — see How to Ensure I Am Not Trading Within 2% of a Price Limit
- Trading on behalf of others — including sharing incentives as part of any business arrangement
- Account stacking — repeatedly hitting the Maximum Loss Limit in one account and switching to another to repeat high-risk attempts
- Any other conduct that Topstep determines, at its sole discretion, is uncommercial, games the market, is not a viable strategy, or is not responsible trading
- Do not use a VPN. VPNs, proxy services, TOR, geo-location obfuscation, and other identity-masking services are not permitted at Topstep. If you see an Error 403 Forbidden message, disable your VPN or proxy and try again.
Prohibited Conduct regarding Trader Profiles:
- Harmful, offensive, illegal, or sexual content
- Personal Data or misleading claims
- Unauthorized names, trademarks, or third-party content
- Advertising, scams, or attempts to evade moderation
SHA-256 fd9fe8c345214861bd37f05a4016503cefa161cceeccb41d1d31426b3d8e35be
▸Version 4September 11, 2026, 4:17 PM+1−1
Changes shown against Version 3.
What Is Prohibited Conduct?
- Unprofessional behavior — see Professional Behavior at Topstep
- Excessive purchases of Trading Combines or Resets
- Price exploitation — strategies designed to exploit errors in price display or data feed delays
- Disruptive practices — including spoofing
- Trading outside the best bid or offer
- Using an external or slow data feed to trade
- Coordinated trading — performing trades in concert with others (including unconnected accounts or third parties) to pool risk, hedge aggregate positions, or trade the same or opposite strategy simultaneously
- Cross-account hedging (single-user) — holding opposite positions across multiple accounts simultaneously
- Trades conflicting with Topstep’s Terms of Use
- Unfair technology — using software, AI, ultra-high speed systems, or mass data entry to gain an unfair advantage
- Trading inconsistent with real futures markets — or in a way that creates financial risk for Topstep
Section: What Is Prohibited Conduct?
− - Unjustified chargebacks — filing a dispute against a payment to Topstep. Learn more here.
+ - Chargebacks or Disputes— filing a dispute against a payment to Topstep. Learn more here.
- Exploiting platform deficiencies — using instruments or methods that misuse bugs, errors, or deficiencies in the platform
- Circumventing geographical or technical restrictions
- Holding a position within 2% of a product’s price lock limit — see How to Ensure I Am Not Trading Within 2% of a Price Limit
- Trading on behalf of others — including sharing incentives as part of any business arrangement
- Account stacking — repeatedly hitting the Maximum Loss Limit in one account and switching to another to repeat high-risk attempts
- Any other conduct that Topstep determines, at its sole discretion, is uncommercial, games the market, is not a viable strategy, or is not responsible trading
- Do not use a VPN. VPNs, proxy services, TOR, geo-location obfuscation, and other identity-masking services are not permitted at Topstep. If you see an Error 403 Forbidden message, disable your VPN or proxy and try again.
Prohibited Conduct regarding Trader Profiles:
- Harmful, offensive, illegal, or sexual content
- Personal Data or misleading claims
- Unauthorized names, trademarks, or third-party content
- Advertising, scams, or attempts to evade moderation
SHA-256 17e56883e0308594953945454700a8e682f1f085f48765ab5bccd68a42ad19b9
▸Version 3September 10, 2026, 4:17 PM+8−2
Changes shown against Version 2.
What Is Prohibited Conduct?
- Unprofessional behavior — see Professional Behavior at Topstep
- Excessive purchases of Trading Combines or Resets
- Price exploitation — strategies designed to exploit errors in price display or data feed delays
- Disruptive practices — including spoofing
- Trading outside the best bid or offer
- Using an external or slow data feed to trade
- Coordinated trading — performing trades in concert with others (including unconnected accounts or third parties) to pool risk, hedge aggregate positions, or trade the same or opposite strategy simultaneously
- Cross-account hedging (single-user) — holding opposite positions across multiple accounts simultaneously
- Trades conflicting with Topstep’s Terms of Use
- Unfair technology — using software, AI, ultra-high speed systems, or mass data entry to gain an unfair advantage
- Trading inconsistent with real futures markets — or in a way that creates financial risk for Topstep
Section: What Is Prohibited Conduct?
+ - Unjustified chargebacks — filing a dispute against a payment to Topstep. Learn more here.
- Exploiting platform deficiencies — using instruments or methods that misuse bugs, errors, or deficiencies in the platform
- Circumventing geographical or technical restrictions
- Holding a position within 2% of a product’s price lock limit — see How to Ensure I Am Not Trading Within 2% of a Price Limit
- Trading on behalf of others — including sharing incentives as part of any business arrangement
- Account stacking — repeatedly hitting the Maximum Loss Limit in one account and switching to another to repeat high-risk attempts
- Any other conduct that Topstep determines, at its sole discretion, is uncommercial, games the market, is not a viable strategy, or is not responsible trading
- Do not use a VPN. VPNs, proxy services, TOR, geo-location obfuscation, and other identity-masking services are not permitted at Topstep. If you see an Error 403 Forbidden message, disable your VPN or proxy and try again.
− Trading with friends & family is part of the Ultimate Trading Experience
− Just keep it by the book — no coordinated group trading, no account-sharing, no single-account rule workarounds.
+ Prohibited Conduct regarding Trader Profiles:
+ - Harmful, offensive, illegal, or sexual content
+ - Personal Data or misleading claims
+ - Unauthorized names, trademarks, or third-party content
+ - Advertising, scams, or attempts to evade moderation
+ - Notice that Profile Content may undergo automated screening and moderation, which may result in profile suspension or deactivation
+ 🤝 Trading with friends & family is part of the Ultimate Trading Experience. Just keep it by the book — no coordinated group trading, no account-sharing, no single-account rule workarounds.
Who is the Trust Team?
The Trust Team protects the integrity of the program. If your conduct is called into question, they're who you'll hear from.
Trust reviews Terms of Use violations, fraudulent activity, and account manipulation. They do not handle platform or technical issues — that's Trader Support.
Appeals
You don't need to initiate an appeal. The Trust Team will contact you directly if one is available. Trader Support cannot assist with appeals.
Once you receive an email from Trust, respond directly to the assigned team member with any supporting documents or information. Respond as soon as possible — there's no fixed deadline, but early responses help.
Appeals can be denied if the review finds ToU violations, fraudulent activity, or account manipulation. If accepted, you'll receive an email with terms and conditions you must accept to return. Breaching those terms will result in immediate account termination.
Trust FAQs
Why can't I appeal?
An appeal may not be possible depending on the severity of the Terms of Use violation. The Trust Team will let you know whether one is available.
What if I just create a new profile?
Don't. New profiles created after a ban will be closed immediately and no refunds will be issued.
SHA-256 efde8308d5124d5b89c5a099b0d73e98003390b79ce6f2b2982b2e981b87206b
▸Version 2August 13, 2026, 10:14 PM+2−0
Changes shown against Version 1.
- Coordinated trading — performing trades in concert with others (including unconnected accounts or third parties) to pool risk, hedge aggregate positions, or trade the same or opposite strategy simultaneously
- Cross-account hedging (single-user) — holding opposite positions across multiple accounts simultaneously
- Trades conflicting with Topstep’s Terms of Use
- Unfair technology — using software, AI, ultra-high speed systems, or mass data entry to gain an unfair advantage
- Trading inconsistent with real futures markets — or in a way that creates financial risk for Topstep
- Exploiting platform deficiencies — using instruments or methods that misuse bugs, errors, or deficiencies in the platform
- Circumventing geographical or technical restrictions
- Holding a position within 2% of a product’s price lock limit — see How to Ensure I Am Not Trading Within 2% of a Price Limit
- Trading on behalf of others — including sharing incentives as part of any business arrangement
- Account stacking — repeatedly hitting the Maximum Loss Limit in one account and switching to another to repeat high-risk attempts
- Any other conduct that Topstep determines, at its sole discretion, is uncommercial, games the market, is not a viable strategy, or is not responsible trading
- Do not use a VPN. VPNs, proxy services, TOR, geo-location obfuscation, and other identity-masking services are not permitted at Topstep. If you see an Error 403 Forbidden message, disable your VPN or proxy and try again.
Section: What Is Prohibited Conduct?
+ Trading with friends & family is part of the Ultimate Trading Experience
+ Just keep it by the book — no coordinated group trading, no account-sharing, no single-account rule workarounds.
Who is the Trust Team?
The Trust Team protects the integrity of the program. If your conduct is called into question, they're who you'll hear from.
Trust reviews Terms of Use violations, fraudulent activity, and account manipulation. They do not handle platform or technical issues — that's Trader Support.
Appeals
You don't need to initiate an appeal. The Trust Team will contact you directly if one is available. Trader Support cannot assist with appeals.
Once you receive an email from Trust, respond directly to the assigned team member with any supporting documents or information. Respond as soon as possible — there's no fixed deadline, but early responses help.
Appeals can be denied if the review finds ToU violations, fraudulent activity, or account manipulation. If accepted, you'll receive an email with terms and conditions you must accept to return. Breaching those terms will result in immediate account termination.
Trust FAQs
Why can't I appeal?
An appeal may not be possible depending on the severity of the Terms of Use violation. The Trust Team will let you know whether one is available.
What if I just create a new profile?
Don't. New profiles created after a ban will be closed immediately and no refunds will be issued.
SHA-256 c5418d525d29ddf8350ebffbf1b42a58f9c7972f11d2cc15c4cd1f69e1b3bba5
▸Version 1July 26, 2026, 12:32 PM
First archived version.
Prohibited Conduct applies at every level of the Topstep program. It protects program integrity and makes sure passing the Trading Combine® actually means something. Violations are reviewed case-by-case based on severity and history.
Possible responses to a Prohibited Conduct violation:
- Warning
- Deletion of the impacted trading day
- Account Reset
- Permanent account closure
- Delay or denial of a Payout request
Ultimately, the action Topstep takes will depend on the infractions severity and your prior history (or lack thereof).
What Is Prohibited Conduct?
- Unprofessional behavior — see Professional Behavior at Topstep
- Excessive purchases of Trading Combines or Resets
- Price exploitation — strategies designed to exploit errors in price display or data feed delays
- Disruptive practices — including spoofing
- Trading outside the best bid or offer
- Using an external or slow data feed to trade
- Coordinated trading — performing trades in concert with others (including unconnected accounts or third parties) to pool risk, hedge aggregate positions, or trade the same or opposite strategy simultaneously
- Cross-account hedging (single-user) — holding opposite positions across multiple accounts simultaneously
- Trades conflicting with Topstep’s Terms of Use
- Unfair technology — using software, AI, ultra-high speed systems, or mass data entry to gain an unfair advantage
- Trading inconsistent with real futures markets — or in a way that creates financial risk for Topstep
- Exploiting platform deficiencies — using instruments or methods that misuse bugs, errors, or deficiencies in the platform
- Circumventing geographical or technical restrictions
- Holding a position within 2% of a product’s price lock limit — see How to Ensure I Am Not Trading Within 2% of a Price Limit
- Trading on behalf of others — including sharing incentives as part of any business arrangement
- Account stacking — repeatedly hitting the Maximum Loss Limit in one account and switching to another to repeat high-risk attempts
- Any other conduct that Topstep determines, at its sole discretion, is uncommercial, games the market, is not a viable strategy, or is not responsible trading
- Do not use a VPN. VPNs, proxy services, TOR, geo-location obfuscation, and other identity-masking services are not permitted at Topstep. If you see an Error 403 Forbidden message, disable your VPN or proxy and try again.
Who is the Trust Team?
The Trust Team protects the integrity of the program. If your conduct is called into question, they're who you'll hear from.
Trust reviews Terms of Use violations, fraudulent activity, and account manipulation. They do not handle platform or technical issues — that's Trader Support.
Appeals
You don't need to initiate an appeal. The Trust Team will contact you directly if one is available. Trader Support cannot assist with appeals.
Once you receive an email from Trust, respond directly to the assigned team member with any supporting documents or information. Respond as soon as possible — there's no fixed deadline, but early responses help.
Appeals can be denied if the review finds ToU violations, fraudulent activity, or account manipulation. If accepted, you'll receive an email with terms and conditions you must accept to return. Breaching those terms will result in immediate account termination.
Trust FAQs
Why can't I appeal?
An appeal may not be possible depending on the severity of the Terms of Use violation. The Trust Team will let you know whether one is available.
What if I just create a new profile?
Don't. New profiles created after a ban will be closed immediately and no refunds will be issued.
Do I need to verify my identity?
Yes. Topstep conducts IDV (Identity Verification) checks on all Traders. You may be asked to re-verify at any time. Learn more about how IDV works.
View the full Prohibited Conduct section in the Terms of Use
SHA-256 e618c1e04c5b678c478dd8961150789079dff032bef7674901cc862fe6e04865