NinjaTrader Arena Challenge: Try Out Your Favorite Trading Strategy Risk Free ($400K in Prizes)
Plus: My personal experience in the October 27th Arena Challenge
Important: There is no guarantee that ATS strategies will have the same performance in the future. I use backtests and forward tests to compare historical strategy performance. Backtests are based on historical data, not real-time data so the results shared are hypothetical, not real. Forward tests are based on live data, however, they use a simulated account. Any success I have with live trading is atypical. Trading futures is extremely risky. You should only use risk capital to fund live futures accounts and if you do trade live, be prepared to lose your entire account. There are no guarantees that any performance you see here will continue in the future. I recommend using ATS strategies in simulated trading until you/we find the holy grail of trading strategy. This is strictly for learning purposes.
We’re not just developing strategies—we’re on a quest for the holy grail of automated trading. Questions? Check the FAQs or feel free to reach out directly: AutomatedTradingStrategies@protonmail.com.
The NinjaTrader Arena is a free, risk-free simulated futures trading competition series. It allows traders to compete against each other using virtual funds while trading in live CME market conditions. The current flagship event—the Arena Cup—offers $400,000 in total prizes, making it the largest competition in NinjaTrader’s history.
All trading occurs in a 100% simulated environment using virtual funds, so there’s truly no risk. While accounts are simulated, the market data is live from CME.
Three Qualifying Rounds
The Arena Cup employs a three-tier qualification system leading to a championship finale.
Two qualifying rounds ran on October 20 and October 27. The last one will be on November 3, 2025. Each qualifier is capped at 10,000 participants maximum with registration operating first-come, first-served. So be sure to sign up if you haven’t done so already. The top 10% of participants from each qualifier advance to the final championship.
The final championship on November 17 is private and invitation-only.
Each of the three qualifying rounds awards $50,000:
1st place earns $8,000,
2nd place receives $2,000,
3rd place gets $1,000, and
4th-400th place each win $100.
This structure means 400 participants per qualifier receive cash prizes while advancing the top 10% (roughly 1,000 traders) to finals.
Championship finals distribute $250,000: The grand prize winner takes home $100,000 (that’s going to me of course—haha;). Second and third place each receive $25,000. Positions 4th-10th earn $10,000 each. Places 11th-300th receive $105 each. This ensures 300 championship participants win cash prizes.
Step-by-step registration process
Registering for Arena challenges follows a straightforward six-step process.
Visit the registration portal at arena.ninjatrader.com or ninjatrader.com/ninjatrader-arena/.
Register for free—no purchase or payment required.
Create your Arena profile including an alias that appears on leaderboards (do not use credentials from any live trading account for security).
Wait for competition start when you receive access to your simulated trading account with virtual balance and live CME market data.
Registration is first-come, first-served with limited spots that fill quickly so sign up now. I participated in the October 27th Challenge. This is how it went…
My Experience
My experience was very easy and straightforward. I signed up and a day later the simulated account associated with the Challenge was added to my account. I used a variation of a strategy I shared about a year ago. The day started out rocky, but by around 2pm I looked up and I was in 4th place. Here’s a screenshot of the Leaderboard:
Thirty minutes later, I was in 3rd place…
Thirty minutes later I was 2nd place…
So what happened?
It was a photo finish. I ended up coming in 4th, less than $20 away from 3rd. Ugh….
But it was all in good fun and it was a great opportunity to try out a strategy with no risk. I’ll share the exact strategy I used after the Championship Challenge.
Congrats to JoshC, Jonantrading and AlgoTraderX! Here’s the final tally:
I’ll see you at the final championship on November 17!
Good luck and feel free to ask any questions I didn’t cover here either below in comments or by email.