The Impossible Coin — Prop Firm Settings Guide

The Impossible Coin — Prop Firm Settings Guide

BTCUSD M5 Expert Advisor — Complete Parameter Reference for Funded Trader Accounts

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The Impossible Coin — Optimisation Settings

The Impossible Prop — on MQL5 Market — sister EA, prop-firm DD aware (EURUSD + GBPUSD M5)

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This guide covers The Impossible Coin's prop firm system — the 4-zone risk engine, pre-built .set files for FTMO and Blue Guardian, and what every parameter does. Download a .set file, load it in MT5, and you're ready to trade.

Why Prop Firms Need Different Settings

Prop firms impose strict rules that personal accounts don't have:

• 5% daily loss limit (FTMO) or 3% daily (Blue Guardian) — one bad day can end your account
• 10% max drawdown (FTMO) or 6% max (Blue Guardian) — account terminated if breached
• BTC volatility means wider stops and larger point swings — risk must be managed aggressively
• Goal shifts from maximising return to consistent profit without breaching rules

The Income preset (2.0% risk, 8 trades/day, 15% MaxDD) is designed for personal accounts. For prop firms, we trade upside for survival.

The PropFirm Zone System

v1.53 includes a 4-zone dynamic risk scaling system that automatically throttles the EA as drawdown approaches your firm's limits. This is the primary defence layer — it handles risk scaling so you don't have to monitor manually.

Zone	When	Risk	Trades	Min Score	Purpose
GREEN	DD < Yellow threshold	100%	Normal	Normal	Full operation — all systems go
YELLOW	DD between Yellow–Red	50%	Reduced	80+	Caution — throttle down, only high-quality entries
RED	DD between Red–Dead	25%	1 max	90+	Danger — minimal exposure, only A+ setups
DEAD	DD above Dead threshold	0%	0	—	Trading halted — protecting the account

How zone thresholds work: Each zone boundary is a percentage of your firm's max DD budget that has been consumed. For example, with PropMaxDD=10% and PropYellowPct=40%, the EA enters Yellow when 4% of the 10% budget has been used (i.e., 4% drawdown from starting equity).

Quick Start — Loading a Set File

All three prop firm .set files are attached to this blog post. Download the one matching your firm.

1. Download the .set file for your prop firm (see table below)
2. Open MT5 → attach EA to a BTCUSD M5 chart
3. In the inputs tab, click Load
4. Browse to the .set file → Open → OK

You only need to load it once per chart. MT5 remembers the settings.

Available Set Files

Prop Firm	Set File	Risk%	Daily Cap	Max DD	Trades/Day	Shield	Trail
FTMO Challenge	TheImpossibleCoin_FTMO_Challenge.set	2.5%	4.0%	9.0%	5	OFF	60/10
FTMO Funded	TheImpossibleCoin_FTMO.set	0.75%	4.0%	9.0%	3	ON (75%)	40/25
Blue Guardian	TheImpossibleCoin_BlueGuardian.set	0.5%	2.0%	5.0%	3	ON (50%)	40/25

Which file to use? Pick your firm from the table above and download the matching .set file attached to this blog post. If your firm isn't listed, use the one with the closest DD rules (tighter is safer). All files use the same optimised strategy — only risk, protection, trail, and PropFirm parameters differ.

Complete Parameter Reference

Strategy Settings

R3 genetically optimised — identical across all presets. Do not change for prop firm use.

Parameter	Value	Explanation
Timeframe	M5	5-minute chart. Optimised for Bitcoin's intraday volatility.
LookbackBars	30	Bars to define breakout range. 30 = 2.5 hours of consolidation.
BufferPips	95.0	Points above/below range before triggering entry.
MinRangePips	100.0	Minimum range size. Below 100 points on BTC is noise.
MaxRangePips	3000.0	Maximum range size. Above 3000 = trending, not consolidating.
MinScoreToTrade	80-85	80 for Challenge (more trades), 85 for Funded/BG (higher quality only).
CooldownBars	0	No delay between trades. The PropFirm zone system handles throttling.

Momentum Continuation

Second entry strategy — identical across all presets.

Parameter	Value	Explanation
MC_Enabled	true	Catches pullbacks in established trends.
MC_EMA_Fast/Slow	13 / 21	EMA crossover for trend confirmation.
MC_PullbackPips	80.0	Max pullback distance from fast EMA.
MC_MinADX	25	Minimum trend strength for entry.
MC_TP / MC_SL	200 / 100	Momentum continuation TP/SL in points.

Session Filter

Optimised for London/NY overlap — highest BTC liquidity.

Parameter	Income	Prop Firm	Explanation
SessionStart	8	11	Prop presets use 11 GMT — tighter window, higher quality hours only.
SessionEnd	23	20	Prop presets end at 20 GMT — avoids thin late-session liquidity.
ExcludeStart / End	0 / 0	0 / 0	No exclusion zone. BTC doesn't have a lunch gap like Gold.
Day blocking	all false	all false	All days active.

Risk Management — CRITICAL FOR PROP FIRMS

These settings directly control whether you stay within prop firm rules.

Parameter	Income	FTMO Challenge	FTMO Funded	Blue Guardian
RiskPerTrade ⚠️	2.0%	2.5%	0.75%	0.5%
CompoundAggressive	false	false	false	false
TP_Pips	150	150	150	150
SL_Pips	200	200	200	200
MaxSpread	100	100	100	100

Trailing Stop — Key Difference Between Presets

The trailing stop configuration is one of the most important differences between Challenge and Funded presets:

Parameter	Income	FTMO Challenge	FTMO Funded	Blue Guardian
TrailingStart	60	60	40	40
TrailingStep	10	10	25	25
UsePartialClose	true	true	true	true
PartialClosePct	50%	50%	50%	50%

Why different trail configs?

• Challenge (60/10) — R3 optimal. Maximises profit extraction. Trail triggers later (60 points) and follows tightly (10-point steps). Best profit generation for hitting the challenge target.
• Funded (40/25) — Conservative. Trail triggers earlier (40 points) locking in smaller profits sooner. Wider step (25 points) gives trades more room, fewer whipsaws. Prioritises keeping what you've made over squeezing more out.

Capital Protection

Parameter	Income	FTMO Challenge	FTMO Funded	Blue Guardian
MaxDrawdown ⚠️	15.0%	9.0%	9.0%	5.0%
MaxDailyLoss ⚠️	5.0%	4.0%	4.0%	2.0%
MaxOpenTrades	1	1	1	1
MaxTradesPerDay	8	5	3	3
MaxConsecLosses	3	3	2	2

Why MaxDrawdown is set to firm limit minus 1%: MaxDrawdown is the emergency brake — permanent shutdown. The PropFirm zone system and Shield handle day-to-day protection. By setting MaxDrawdown at firm limit minus 1%, Shield has room to do its pause-and-recover cycle. If set too conservatively (e.g., 7% for a 10% rule), the EA can deadlock: Shield fires, lifts next day, but MaxDrawdown permanently blocks all trading before recovery is possible.

News Filter

Parameter	Value	Explanation
EnableNewsFilter	true	Always enabled for prop accounts. Uses MT5 Economic Calendar.
NewsMinutesBefore	30	Blocks trades 30 minutes before high-impact events.
NewsMinutesAfter	15	Blocks trades 15 minutes after events.

Shield Circuit Breaker

Parameter	Income	FTMO Challenge	FTMO Funded	Blue Guardian
EnableShield ⚠️	true	false	true	true
ShieldArmPct	75%	0%	75%	50%
ShieldDrawdownPct	10%	5%	10%	5%
ShieldRecovery	1	1	1	1

Challenge vs Funded Shield logic:

• Challenge: Shield OFF — you need to hit the profit target. Shield can prevent the EA from trading enough to reach 10% profit. Shield is counterproductive during challenge phase.
• Funded: Shield ON, arms early — you already passed. Now the goal is consistent payouts. Shield locks in daily gains and lifts next morning. Blue Guardian uses 50% arm (arms sooner) because the 6% max DD is tighter.

PropFirm Zone Parameters

Parameter	FTMO Challenge	FTMO Funded	Blue Guardian	Explanation
EnablePropFirm	true	true	true	Activates 4-zone risk scaling.
PropMaxDD	10.0%	10.0%	6.0%	Your firm's max DD rule.
PropDailyDD	5.0%	5.0%	3.0%	Your firm's daily loss rule.
PropYellowPct	40%	40%	30%	Enter Yellow zone at this % of budget consumed. BG enters earlier (30%) because 6% is tight.
PropRedPct	65%	65%	65%	Enter Red zone — minimal trading, A+ setups only.
PropDeadPct	85%	85%	85%	Enter Dead zone — all trading halted.
YellowRiskMult	0.5	0.5	0.5	Risk multiplied by 0.5 in Yellow (half normal).
YellowMaxTrades	0	0	0	0 = use MaxTradesPerDay (unchanged). Set a number to override.
YellowMinScore	80	80	80	Minimum score in Yellow — only quality entries.
RedRiskMult	—	0.25	0.25	Quarter risk in Red zone.
RedMaxTrades	—	1	1	Maximum 1 trade/day in Red.
RedMinScore	—	90	90	Only 90+ conviction trades in Red.

Regime Filter

Parameter	Value	Explanation
EnableRegimeFilter	true	Monitors weekly EMA slope. Blocks entries when BTC has no clear trend.
RegimeEMAPeriod	50	50-period weekly EMA (~1 year).
RegimeLookback	4	Slope over 4 weekly bars (~1 month).
RegimeMinSlope	0.05%	Below ±0.05% = FLAT market. Lower than Gold because BTC trends more clearly.
BlockCounterTrend	false	Trades both directions. Set true for additional safety.

Prop Firm Cheat Sheet

Quick Formula: MaxTradesPerDay × RiskPerTrade < MaxDailyLoss
FTMO Challenge: 5 × 2.5% = 12.5% — exceeds 4% cap, but BTC R:R means most trades win. Actual worst case depends on consecutive losses, capped by MaxConsecLosses=3 → 3 × 2.5% = 7.5%. The PropFirm zone system throttles risk before this happens.
FTMO Funded: 3 × 0.75% = 2.25% < 4.0% ✓ (1.75% buffer)
Blue Guardian: 3 × 0.5% = 1.5% < 2.0% ✓ (0.5% buffer)

Prop Firm	Daily Loss	Max DD	Set MaxDailyLoss	Set MaxDrawdown	Risk % (Challenge)	Risk % (Funded)
FTMO 2-Step	5%	10%	4.0%	9.0%	2.5%	0.75%
Blue Guardian	3%	6%	2.0%	5.0%	—	0.5%

Note: FTMO Challenge risk (2.5%) is aggressive by design — BTC challenges have a time limit and you need to hit 10% profit. The PropFirm zone system will throttle risk automatically if drawdown builds. For Funded accounts, 0.75% (FTMO) and 0.5% (BG) keep worst-case daily losses well under limits.

Challenge vs Funded — Different Priorities

Challenge Phase — Need to hit 10% profit target within the time limit:

• RiskPerTrade: 2.5% (aggressive — fast profit generation)
• MaxTradesPerDay: 5 (maximise opportunities)
• Shield: OFF (don't cap profitable days, let it run)
• Trail: 60/10 (R3 optimal — extract maximum profit per trade)
• MinScoreToTrade: 80 (more entries, higher volume)
• MaxConsecLosses: 3 (don't cut off too early)

Funded Phase — Survival is everything:

• RiskPerTrade: 0.5-0.75% (conservative — protect the account)
• MaxTradesPerDay: 3 (fewer trades, less exposure)
• Shield: ON (lock in daily gains, lift next morning)
• Trail: 40/25 (trigger earlier, lock profit faster, give trades more room)
• MinScoreToTrade: 85 (only high-conviction entries)
• MaxConsecLosses: 2 (stop early, review later)

Complete Settings Comparison — All Presets

Every parameter that differs between prop files and the Income (personal) preset. Strategy parameters (LookbackBars, BufferPips, MinRange, MaxRange, MC settings) are identical across all files.

Parameter	Income	FTMO Challenge	FTMO Funded	Blue Guardian
Firm Daily DD	—	5%	5%	3%
Firm Max DD	—	10%	10%	6%
RiskPerTrade	2.0%	2.5%	0.75%	0.5%
SessionStart	8	11	11	11
SessionEnd	23	20	20	20
MinScoreToTrade	80	80	85	85
TrailingStart	60	60	40	40
TrailingStep	10	10	25	25
MaxDrawdown	15%	9.0%	9.0%	5.0%
MaxDailyLoss	5%	4.0%	4.0%	2.0%
MaxTradesPerDay	8	5	3	3
MaxConsecLosses	3	3	2	2
EnableShield	true	false	true	true
ShieldArmPct	75%	0%	75%	50%
ShieldDrawdownPct	10%	5%	10%	5%
EnablePropFirm	false	true	true	true
PropMaxDD	—	10.0	10.0	6.0
PropDailyDD	—	5.0	5.0	3.0
PropYellowPct	—	40%	40%	30%
Worst-Case Daily	6%	7.5%	2.25%	1.5%

Reading the table: Green values are changed from Income defaults for prop safety. Red indicates a feature deliberately disabled (Shield OFF during Challenge). Strategy parameters (TP, SL, breakout detection, momentum continuation) are identical across all files — v1.53 R3 optimised values.

Adapting for Other Firms

If your prop firm isn't listed, use the closest file and adjust these parameters:

1. PropMaxDD → your firm's max DD rule
2. PropDailyDD → your firm's daily loss rule
3. MaxDrawdown → PropMaxDD minus 1%
4. MaxDailyLoss → PropDailyDD minus 1%
5. RiskPerTrade → start at 0.5% for tight DD, 0.75% for generous DD
6. PropYellowPct → 30% for tight DD firms (≤8%), 40% for generous (10%+)

Test formula: MaxConsecLosses × RiskPerTrade < MaxDailyLoss. If the math doesn't work, lower RiskPerTrade.

A Note on BTC vs Gold for Prop Firms

Bitcoin is structurally different from Gold for prop firm trading:

• Higher volatility — wider stops required (SL 200 vs Gold 55), which means risk per trade must be lower to keep % risk the same
• Higher win rate — ~90% WR on BTC vs ~58% on Gold, but inverted R:R (each loss = ~8 wins)
• Income grinder profile — BTC generates consistent small wins. It's better at reliably grinding profit than surviving large swings
• Challenge pass speed — Gold can pass faster due to larger individual wins, but BTC is more consistent daily

For FTMO Challenges, Gold may pass faster but BTC may be more reliable. For Funded accounts, BTC's ~90% WR makes for smoother equity curves — fewer drawdown events, more consistent payout periods.

From the same author — The Impossible Prop (EURUSD + GBPUSD)

Want to run a forex prop firm 100K challenge? The Impossible Coin's sister product — The Impossible Prop — is a session-breakout scalper purpose-built for the standard 5% / 10% drawdown framework on EURUSD and GBPUSD M5. Two genetically tuned instances run side-by-side on the same account with a built-in Parallel Awareness layer: when one halts the other respects it, correlated same-direction entries can be blocked, and a combined daily-trade cap can govern the pair as a unit.

4-month verified out-of-sample: +6.9% / 65.5% win rate / 87 trades / ~7.8% peak DD / 0 prop breaches. Hard TP + hard SL on every trade. Same single binary also runs on personal accounts via one toggle.

→ View The Impossible Prop on MQL5 Market

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Disclaimer: Settings based on typical prop firm rules as of 2026. Firms change rules frequently — always verify your firm's current rules. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Trading Bitcoin involves significant risk of loss due to high volatility. The developer is not responsible for any losses on funded or personal accounts.

The Impossible Coin — mortah.ai | BTCUSD M5 Expert Advisor for MetaTrader 5 | Questions? MQL5 PM or Discord.