Apex Trader Funding and Topstep Suspend All Precious Metals Trading as Gold Volatility Surges
Two of the largest futures prop firms in the industry have pulled the plug on metals trading. Apex Trader Funding and Topstep have both suspended trading on gold, silver, copper, platinum, and palladium across all account types, citing extreme market volatility that has made risk management untenable under current conditions.
The affected instruments at Apex include full-size gold (GC), mini gold (QO), micro gold (MGC), full-size silver (SI), mini silver (QI), copper (HG), platinum (PL), and palladium (PA). The suspension covers both evaluation accounts and funded Performance Accounts, and applies across all supported platforms including Rithmic, Tradovate, and WealthCharts. No new positions can be opened, no additions to existing positions are permitted, and traders have been advised that open trades may be closed.
The decision comes after weeks of extraordinary volatility in the precious metals markets. Gold has been posting daily ranges exceeding $50 per contract on GC futures, translating to potential swings of $5,000 or more per contract in a single session. For prop firms managing thousands of funded accounts simultaneously, that level of exposure creates significant risk that goes beyond what their standard drawdown parameters were designed to handle.
Topstep moved first, and Apex followed shortly after with its own announcement. The sequence suggests that the decision was driven by shared concerns about broker margin requirements and the systemic risk that metals volatility poses to the funded trader model. When a single instrument can move aggressively enough to blow through daily loss limits in minutes, firms have limited options beyond restricting access entirely.
The trader reaction has been mixed. On social media, some traders have expressed frustration, particularly those who built their strategies around gold and silver scalping. Gold has been one of the most popular instruments among futures prop traders due to its liquidity and range, and losing access to it removes a core part of many traders’ playbooks. Others have pointed out that the suspension is a necessary step to protect the firm’s ability to continue paying out profits to the wider trader base.
This development also feeds into a broader conversation about payout sustainability in the futures prop space. Reports from industry observers indicate that at least three prop firms are now exploring permanent payout caps, largely in response to losses tied to metals trading. The question facing the industry is whether these restrictions will be temporary risk management measures or the beginning of a longer-term shift in how futures prop trading challenges are structured.
For traders affected by the halt, the path forward involves either pivoting to other instruments such as equity index futures, crude oil, or currency futures, or waiting for market conditions to stabilize enough for the firms to lift restrictions. Neither Apex nor Topstep has provided a specific timeline for when metals trading will resume, stating only that they will continue monitoring conditions and broker margin requirements.
The situation serves as a reminder that prop firms, despite offering traders access to significant capital, ultimately operate within risk parameters that can change quickly when markets move beyond expected ranges. Traders who rely heavily on a single instrument or asset class may want to consider diversifying their approach to avoid being sidelined by future restrictions.
