Introduction
PipFarm prohibits the use of high-frequency trading strategies. These strategies are designed to execute dozens or hundreds of trades in a short period, typically through automation, to capitalise on small price movements.
While these strategies may be common in institutional environments, they are not suitable for our simulated trading program.
What is high-frequency trading?
High-frequency trading (HFT) refers to automated strategies that rapidly place and close many orders within a short period — often seconds or milliseconds. These strategies typically:
Use bots or scripts to automate order entry and exit.
Generate high order volumes with low average trade duration.
Aim to capture small profits from speed or latency advantages.
Exploit microstructure inefficiencies, such as slippage, spread, or quote delay.
Why is HFT prohibited at PipFarm?
PipFarm provides a simulated trading environment designed to assess real-world trading skills, rather than rewarding systems that exploit pricing delays or execution gaps.
High-frequency strategies:
Do not reflect realistic conditions in live market environments.
Can overload platform infrastructure.
Undermine fair use of the program.
They are often incompatible with broker pricing and slippage simulation.
We’re looking for traders who demonstrate good decision-making, not bots that farm ticks.
Examples of prohibited HFT activity
Here are some trading behaviours that may be flagged as high-frequency trading.
❌ Behaviour | 🔍 Description |
Placing 50+ trades within a few minutes | Automated systems firing off rapid-fire orders |
Holding trades for less than 1 second repeatedly | Scalping in milliseconds |
Opening and closing trades multiple times on the same minute | Tick-level scalping behaviour |
Using a script to open and close trades during news events | News spike harvesting with automation |
Running EA strategies designed to exploit latency or slippage | Known HFT EAs targeting platform execution purchased from marketplaces |
What is allowed?
Manual scalping, swing trading, and intraday strategies are all allowed, as long as:
You’re not using automation to execute dozens of trades per second.
Your trades are based on genuine strategy, not system exploitation.
You’re not abusing price delays, misquotes, or rapid-fire trading.
What happens if you use HFT?
If we detect high-frequency trading on your account, we may:
Reset your account or challenge
Remove illegitimate profit
Disqualify your account