How to Check a Trading Campaign Before You Join

Find the official rules, confirm you are eligible, then work out exactly what you would be paid, when and in what form. Most disappointments with trading campaigns come from one of those three steps, not from the trading itself.

Start With the Official Source

The official source is the venue's announcement on its own domain, its docs or terms page, or a post from its verified account. Screenshots can be edited or out of date. Telegram posts and reposts usually drop the conditions, and a link in a forwarded message can be swapped. Type the venue's address yourself or follow a link from its verified account.

Some campaigns are first reported by the press. Our listing for the Variational VAR airdrop cites a news report of the plan, and no exact token launch date had been set when we checked. In cases like that, wait for the venue's own terms before you commit money to qualify.

Read Who Can Join

Eligibility is where most people get caught out.

• Regions. Binance's Spot Trading Tournament Season 4 excludes the EEA. Kraken's Pre-IPO Challenge excludes the UK, EEA, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Robinhood's and tastytrade's offers are US only.
• Identity checks. Many campaigns need a verified account before anything counts.
• New users only. Gate's new user offer is for new master accounts. Plus500 US's prediction markets bonus is for first-time depositors and capped at the first 5,000 customers.
• Account type. tastytrade's new account offer covers individual accounts, not IRAs or entity accounts.
• Enrolment. Kraken asks you to enrol before trading, and Bybit's Stock Buzz needs registration on the event page. Trades made before you sign up may not count.

If you are outside the eligible regions, the campaign is not for you. Getting round it with a VPN puts the reward and the account at risk.

Check Dates and Time Zones

Deadlines are set in the venue's time zone, not yours. Upbit's KAIA zero-fee window ended at 23:59 Korea time on 11 October, which was 15:59 in London. Robinhood's transfer match closes at 8:59 PM Pacific time on 16 October.

Open-ended points programs have no fixed end and can change phase. Hibachi's regular points season ended on 30 April 2026 and moved to a new Playoffs format. For airdrops, the snapshot date matters more than the claim date.

Work Out How the Reward Is Paid

The headline number and what reaches your wallet are often different things.

• Cash or stablecoins. Plus500 US says its $20 bonus can be withdrawn. Kraken's challenge pays in USDG.
• Vouchers. Binance's tournament pays BNB in token vouchers, and Gate's offer includes position vouchers. Check what a voucher can be used for and when it expires.
• Trading bonuses and credits. HFM's demo contest pays trading bonuses credited to a live account. Plus500 US's first deposit offer pays commission credits. Read the terms on withdrawing them.
• Points. Points have no fixed value until they convert, if they ever do. Pacifica says its points formula is undisclosed and changes each week.
• Tokens. The price can move a long way before you can sell. Check the vesting schedule and the claim window. The Variational report says unclaimed VAR will be burned.

Prize pools that scale are quoted at their maximum. Bybit's Stock Buzz pool grows with community volume up to 100,000 USDT. The Blackboard x Aster competition guarantees $17,000 of a pool that can reach $100,000.

Read the Fine Print

• Minimum volume. Binance's tournament needs $500 of volume, Kraken's $10,000, Bybit's $20,000 to rank and the Aster competition $50,000 of qualified volume.
• Holding periods and clawbacks. Robinhood says transferred assets must stay for five years or part of the bonus can be clawed back. tastytrade asks for funds to stay for 12 months.
• Disqualification. Lighter's points rules exclude wash trading, sybil accounts and automated farming. Pacifica gives nothing for self-trading. Running several accounts or trading with yourself can cost you the reward.
• Caps. Gate's offer stops once 5,000 rewards have been given out.
• Your real cost. Add up fees, spread and funding on the volume you would need. In a volume race those costs can be larger than the prize.

Check the Venue Itself

Brokers. Check the licence on the regulator's own register and note which company you would sign up with. HFM's contests run through HF Markets (SV) Ltd, incorporated in St Vincent and the Grenadines, and are not offered in the US, Canada, UK or EU. The FCA warns about clone firms that copy real firms' names and reference numbers, so use the contact details on the register, and check the FCA Warning List.

Exchanges. Look for proof of reserves and a track record without major incidents. CoinGecko's trust score for spot exchanges covers liquidity, regulation, cybersecurity, past incidents and proof of reserves. Each venue page on TraderComps shows its published licences and our beta score.

Track record. Years live matter, and so does whether past seasons paid out as promised.

Know Your Regional Rules

UK crypto. Since 8 October 2023 the FCA's rules have banned incentives to invest in cryptoassets in promotions to UK consumers, including "refer a friend" bonuses, and added a cooling-off period for first-time investors (FCA, PS23/6). That is why so many crypto campaigns exclude the UK.

UK CFDs. Since 1 August 2019 the FCA has required CFD firms to stop offering monetary and non-monetary inducements to encourage retail trading.

EU CFDs. ESMA's 2018 product intervention measures prohibit benefits that encourage retail clients to trade CFDs, including account-opening bonuses and volume-based fee rebates. Lower fees for all retail clients are allowed (ESMA Q&A).

Some offers are for professional clients only, such as OANDA Australia's welcome bonus. If you see a bonus you would not expect in your country, check which company is making it.

Scams to Avoid

• Fake campaign sites. Lookalike domains copy real campaign pages. Reach the campaign from the venue's own site.
• Impersonation accounts. Fake X accounts and Telegram "admins" promote fake rewards. Treat any unsolicited message as hostile.
• "Deposit to claim" airdrops. Real deposit bonuses credit an account you control on the venue's own platform. A request to send crypto to an address to release a reward is a scam pattern.
• Wallet drainers. MetaMask warns that airdrop scams lead people to sites that ask for a recovery phrase or a signature that can drain a wallet. The FBI has warned about fake airdrops disguised as free rewards and says not to share seed phrases. Never type a recovery phrase into a website, read what you sign, and claim from a separate wallet.

The Checklist

• I found the rules on the venue's own domain or verified account.
• My country, account type and identity status are eligible.
• I know the start and end in my own time zone, and I have enrolled if needed.
• I know whether the reward is cash, vouchers, credit, points or tokens, and when I can withdraw it.
• I know the minimum volume, any holding period and what gets an account disqualified.
• My trading costs to qualify are smaller than the realistic reward.
• The venue is licensed where it needs to be and has a track record.
• The offer is legal where I live.
• Nobody has asked for my recovery phrase, a deposit to claim or a signature I do not understand.

Every TraderComps listing links its official source and shows who can join, and our methodology explains how we check them. Start with the calendar.

This guide is information, not financial advice. Trading carries risk, and campaign terms are set by each venue.