As of October 21, 2026, yes: all seven firms we checked let you trade gold. The full-size contract (GC, 100 oz) and Micro Gold (MGC, 10 oz) are on the official lists of APEX, Lucid, Topstep, Tradeify, MyFundedFutures, Bulenox and Earn2Trade. What changes from one firm to another is the other metals and the limits. Topstep caps GC at 3 contracts on a 50K account (1 on a new XFA), won't let you open full-size silver, copper or platinum (SI, HG and PL) and caps their micros (SIL and MHG) at 2. MyFundedFutures doesn't let you trade full-size silver, copper or platinum right now either, and allows at most 5 metal micros. None of the seven bans gold over its record prices.
Everything comes from each firm's official pages and CME's contract specs, checked on October 21, 2026. Metal limits change faster than any other rule (several are marked as temporary), so check them before you trade.
Which metals each firm accepts
GC: gold (100 oz) · MGC: micro gold (10 oz) · SI: silver · SIL: micro silver · HG: copper · MHG: micro copper · PL: platinum · PA: palladium. Caps are for a 50K account.
| Firm | GC | MGC | SI | SIL | HG | MHG | PL | PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| APEX | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | not listed | yes | yes |
| Lucid | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | not listed | yes | not listed |
| Topstep | cap 3 a | cap 30 a | cap 0 a | cap 2 a | cap 0 a | cap 2 a | cap 0 a | not listed |
| Tradeify | yes | yes | yes | no | yes | no | yes | yes |
| MyFundedFutures | yes | cap 5 b | restricted b | cap 5 b | restricted b | not listed | restricted b | not listed |
| Bulenox | yes | yes | yes | not listed | yes | not listed | yes | not listed |
| Earn2Trade | yes | yes | yes c | yes c | yes c | yes | yes c | yes c |
- a Topstep: temporary volatility caps on its 50K accounts: the Combine (its evaluation), the XFA (its simulated funded account) and Pro. On the XFA the scaling plan cuts them at first: 1 GC or 12 MGC below a $1,500 balance, 1 GC or 18 MGC at $1,500, and 3 GC or 31 MGC from $2,000; SIL and MHG, 1 micro until $2,000 and 2 from there. On the Live account (LFA, real money) the MGC cap drops to 5. Full-size silver, copper and platinum (SI, HG and PL) are still on its list, but with a cap of 0: you can't open a single contract. Topstep says it keeps these caps for as long as volatility lasts.
- b MyFundedFutures: since “April 17” (the page doesn't give the year), at most 5 metal micros on a 50K account. The page names no symbols and doesn't say whether the cap is combined; MGC and SIL are its only metal micros, so the safe reading is to count them together. “Restricted”: still on its list, but it won't let you trade them for now; it calls this temporary, due to volatility, since “February 7” (no year given either).
- c Earn2Trade doesn't list it by name: its rule allows every CME, CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX future, micros included. It doesn't say how SIL counts on its contract ladder (among metals, only MGC and MHG count 10 to 1).
- “No”: the firm excludes it in writing (Tradeify says MGC is its only metal micro and that micro silver isn't supported). “Not listed”: missing from its official list; APEX says orders in instruments off its list are rejected, while Lucid, Topstep, MyFundedFutures and Bulenox only list what they accept.
Gold on a 50K account: how many contracts and when
Firms count in “minis” and “micros”. A mini is any full-size contract (GC for gold, ES for the S&P 500) and a micro is the small one (MGC, MES). At most firms, 10 micros count as 1 mini.
Contracts and limits
| Firm | Contracts on a 50K account | Separate metals limit |
|---|---|---|
| APEX | 6 minis or 60 micros on the evaluation; on the funded account (APEX calls it PA), 2 to 4 minis depending on profit | No |
| Lucid | 4 minis or 40 micros (Flex, Pro, Direct and Daily); the funded Flex starts at 2 and reaches 4 at $2,000 profit | No; on its Live account, COMEX metals (gold, silver and copper) have a lower limit: 1 to 2 minis |
| Topstep | 5 minis or 50 micros on the Combine, but metals have their own caps | Yes, temporary: GC 3, MGC 30, SIL 2 and MHG 2; SI, HG and PL, 0 |
| Tradeify | 4 minis or 40 micros (the funded Select starts at 2); 1 GC counts the same as 1 ES | No; MGC is its only metal micro |
| MyFundedFutures | Rapid: 5 minis or 50 micros (other plans, fewer) | Yes: 5 metal micros |
| Bulenox | 7 contracts (option 1, with a drawdown that trails your balance in real time) or 2, 4 or 7 depending on profit (option 2, end-of-day drawdown; Fast Track and Momentum, a fixed 4); 10 micros = 1 contract | No |
| Earn2Trade | 2, 4, then 6 contracts as your profit grows (2 up to $1,500, 4 up to $2,000, then 6); going over is an instant fail: a reset on the evaluation, the account on the funded one | No |
News and close times
| Firm | News | Close by (New York time) |
|---|---|---|
| APEX | Allowed; placing a buy order above the price and a sell order below it to catch the release is prohibited | 4:59 PM (3:59 PM Chicago); Live account, 4:50 PM |
| Lucid | Allowed on Flex, Pro and Direct. On LucidDaily, trading high-impact US releases is a hard breach: no open positions from 1 minute before to 1 minute after | 4:45 PM (3:45 PM Chicago); LucidLive on Rithmic, 4:15 PM |
| Topstep | Around the biggest releases (Topstep calls them Tier 1: CPI, jobs report, PPI and the Fed), no new metal minis for 10 minutes (5 before to 5 after); on the 50K Combine, at most 3 MGC | 4:10 PM (3:10 PM Chicago) |
| Tradeify | Allowed, no news rules | 4:45 PM (3:45 PM Chicago) |
| MyFundedFutures | Funded Rapid, Rapid EOD and Pro: no positions or orders from 2 minutes before to 2 minutes after the biggest releases (Fed, jobs report, CPI); allowed on evaluations and on Builder | 4:10 PM (3:10 PM Chicago), with an automatic close on regular days only: on half-session holidays you must close yourself or lose the account |
| Bulenox | Allowed | 4:59 PM (3:59 PM Chicago) |
| Earn2Trade | Allowed | 4:50 PM (3:50 PM Chicago) |
Close times are New York time. From October 26 to 30, the UK and the rest of Europe have already turned their clocks back and the US hasn't, so everything happens one hour earlier than usual there: 4:59 PM in New York is 8:59 PM in London instead of 9:59 PM. On early-close holidays every firm makes you close earlier, and at MyFundedFutures there's no automatic close that day. The hour-by-hour times are in daylight saving time and prop firm hours, and each firm's full news rules in news and bots by prop firm.
How much gold moves your account
Gold moves a lot for a 50K account. In our data (1,836 real Micro Gold sessions, measured from 8:20 AM to 1:30 PM New York time, with gold at $4,147 an ounce), in a typical session the price covers about $31.6 from high to low: $316 per MGC and $3,164 per GC. So in an ordinary session a single GC swings more than the whole $2,000 drawdown (the most you're allowed to lose) of a 50K evaluation, and one session in ten, more than $6,200. Over Globex's full 23 hours the range is larger.
That's why, on a 50K account, the micro is the contract that fits. If your buffer has to survive about 10 losses in a row, with a $2,000 drawdown you risk about $200 per trade. With a $10 stop in the gold price (the order that takes you out if price moves $10 against you), each MGC risks $100, so you can trade 2 micros. A single GC with that same stop risks $1,000, half the drawdown. The full math is in how many contracts to trade, and the comparison with the Micro Nasdaq and Micro Crude in Micro Nasdaq, gold or crude.
What each metals contract is worth, per CME's contract specs:
| Contract | Size | Tick (smallest step) | Tick value | What a move is worth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GC · Gold | 100 oz | $0.10 | $10.00 | $100 per dollar |
| MGC · Micro Gold | 10 oz | $0.10 | $1.00 | $10 per dollar |
| SI · Silver | 5,000 oz | $0.005 | $25.00 | $50 per cent |
| SIL · Micro Silver | 1,000 oz | $0.005 | $5.00 | $10 per cent |
| HG · Copper | 25,000 lb | $0.0005 | $12.50 | $250 per cent |
| MHG · Micro Copper | 2,500 lb | $0.0005 | $1.25 | $25 per cent |
| PL · Platinum | 50 oz | $0.10 | $5.00 | $50 per dollar |
| PA · Palladium | 100 oz | $0.50 | $50.00 | $100 per dollar |
All of them trade on Globex, CME's electronic platform, Sunday to Friday, from 5:00 PM to 4:00 PM the next day Chicago time (6:00 PM to 5:00 PM New York time), with a 60-minute daily break from 4:00 PM Chicago time. The firms make you close before that break.
The rumors, checked
- “APEX suspended all metals on March 14, 2026.” Half true: there was a temporary suspension, but it started earlier and it's over. APEX's homepage carried a note saying COMEX (the CME market where gold, silver and copper trade) and all metals were temporarily unavailable. It's in the archived copies from February 18 to April 2, 2026, and it was gone by May 4. We found no official notice giving the reason or the dates, and the March 14 date doesn't appear anywhere official. Today GC, MGC, SI, SIL, HG, PL and PA are on the product lists of its three platforms (Tradovate, Rithmic and WealthCharts), but the homepage listed them during the restriction too: before trading metals at APEX, check they're active on your platform (in Rithmic, View Risk Parameters) or ask support.
- “Some firms ban gold over record prices.” We didn't find one that bans it. What exists are limits: Topstep and MyFundedFutures won't let you open full-size silver, copper or platinum (citing volatility); Topstep caps gold itself at 3 GC and 30 MGC on a 50K account; MyFundedFutures allows at most 5 metal micros (MGC included); and Lucid has a lower COMEX limit on its Live account.
- “You can't trade metals on news.” False in general. There are limits only at Topstep, which blocks new metal minis for 10 minutes around the biggest releases; on MyFundedFutures' funded Rapid, Rapid EOD and Pro accounts; and on LucidDaily, whose news rules apply to every product. APEX, Tradeify, Bulenox, Earn2Trade, MyFundedFutures' Builder plan and Lucid's other accounts allow news (APEX bans placing orders on both sides of the price to catch the release).
What can cost you the account with metals
- Hedging between metals. Hedging means being long (bought) and short (sold) at the same time in products that move together. APEX and Tradeify treat metals as one group: long GC and short MGC, on the same account or on two different ones, is not allowed, and at APEX a violation means the account is closed. Lucid also names metals as a correlated group, but only bans opposite positions across different accounts (on the same account it allows mini against micro of the same contract); the first time it resets the accounts to the prior day's balance, and repeat offenses breach every account involved. At MyFundedFutures the ban covers the same underlying, so long GC and short MGC would count too.
- Going over the contract limit. On APEX's evaluation, an order above the limit is simply rejected, with no penalty; at Earn2Trade going over the ladder is an instant fail (on the funded account you lose it), and MyFundedFutures says that combining instruments above the total can cost you the account.
- Trading near the price limit. CME sets how far a contract can rise or fall before trading is slowed or halted. Topstep won't let you trade within 2% of that limit, nor will MyFundedFutures on its funded accounts, and APEX recommends staying away from it because trading can stop.
- An expired or wrong contract. Tradeify prohibits trading expired contracts and asks you to move to the next expiry in time, and on WealthCharts APEX only accepts the front month (the nearest expiry), not the continuous contract.
Before you trade gold
- Check your firm's product page today: the metal caps are temporary and can change from one day to the next.
- Compare what your stop risks in MGC and in GC: with a $2,000 drawdown, a single GC with a $10 stop is already half of it.
- Convert the close time to your local time and check the day's releases on today's news.
- Run your numbers through the free simulator before buying the evaluation.
Sources
- APEX: Tradovate commissions and instruments
- APEX: Rithmic commissions and instruments
- APEX: evaluation position sizing
- APEX: hedging and correlated instruments
- APEX: homepage on Feb 18, 2026 with the metals-unavailable note (archived copy)
- APEX: homepage on May 4, 2026, without the note (archived copy)
- Lucid: approved products and commissions
- Lucid: Flex scaling plan
- Lucid: Live scaling plan
- Lucid: prohibited hedging
- Topstep: which products you can trade
- Topstep: high-risk, high-volatility risk adjustments
- Tradeify: supported products
- Tradeify: hedging and correlated products
- Tradeify: Select payouts and scaling
- MyFundedFutures: instrument list (restrictions and metal micro cap)
- MyFundedFutures: news trading policy
- MyFundedFutures: permitted trading times
- Bulenox: instruments and commissions
- Bulenox: commission sheet (Aug 11, 2026)
- Earn2Trade: what you can trade
- Earn2Trade: Trader Career Path ladder
- CME: Gold (GC) contract specs
- CME: Micro Gold (MGC) contract specs
- CME: Silver (SI) contract specs
- CME: Micro Silver (SIL) contract specs
- CME: Copper (HG) contract specs
- CME: Micro Copper (MHG) contract specs
- CME: Platinum (PL) contract specs
- CME: Palladium (PA) contract specs
Checked on October 21, 2026. Gold's range: calibration of our futures simulator, 1,836 real Micro Gold sessions (8:20 AM to 1:30 PM New York time). Not investment advice.
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