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Prop firms are becoming more and more popular among Forex traders, both new and experienced ones. A prop firm is a firm that provides a trader access to capital for them to trade on the firm's behalf. Of course, a firm would not give money to anybody just to lose them completely.What is prop trading in Forex?
An alternative to trading Forex with your own funds through a broker is to trade with a proprietary FX trading firm using the funds provided by the prop firm itself.
A Forex prop firm is a company that evaluates a trader's skills (usually via a trading challenge) and assigns its own trading capital for the trader to operate with. The aim of the challenge (evaluation) period is for the firm to get to know whether the trader is qualified and whether they are capable of trading under company's money management rules.
Trading with a prop firm usually involves some kind of a fee — be it an entry fee to get evaluated by the firm or a monthly fee to keep trading with the firm's capital.
Profit earned by a Forex trader with a prop firm is usually shared using a scheme like 60%/40% or similar.
Overall, a Forex prop firm is one of the best ways for a confident profitable trader to get funded and start earning money in the foreign exchange market.
However, one has to be aware of the pros and cons associated with FX prop trading. Such trading only makes sense if the pros are outweighing the cons in your particular case as prop trading is definitely not for everyone.
Advantages and disadvantages of prop firms without evaluation
- Getting funds to earn profits on is relatively simple.
- Strict risk management rules help to stay on track and avoid most of the psychological pitfalls Forex traders suffer from.
- A rather large variety of prop firms to choose from nowadays.
- Some of these firms offer quality educational materials and tools to their traders.
- Since traders actually trade on demo accounts only, the trading conditions and availability across countries aren't affected by regulatory restrictions.
- Inherent conflict of interest — the prop company's aim is to get as much in fees from you as possible.
- Minimum trading volume and profit requirements, short maximum holding period, news trading restriction push for a certain specific short-term trading style.
- Going through the evaluation process can be a huge waste of time and money for traders who would be better off trading for themselves using some long-term trading strategies.
- Taxation might be less favorable for prop trading than for traditional Forex trading. This depends a lot on your country's specific tax laws, but prop firm income is usually taxed as normal income, while FX trading income from brokers is usually qualified as capital gains, which is generally taxed at a lower rate
Top 4 Forex prop firms
Despite some disadvantages, prop firms remain one of the most accessible ways to earn real money for retail traders. You can browse our list of the best 4 Forex prop firms to find the company that fits your requirements:
1. PipFarm
PipFarm's restrictions on trading are rather lax compared to other proprietary trading firms. Their challenge is just a simple 1 stage with maximum duration of 360 days. You can trade through news and weekends and there are no trading consistency requirements.
Funding programs
PipFarm offers seven starting programs:
- $5,000 funding
- Price: $50
- Profit target: $600
- Maximum funding: $15,000 ($2,500 increments)
- $10,000 funding
- Price: $100
- Profit target: $1,200
- Maximum funding: $30,000 ($5,000 increments)
- $20,000 funding
- Price: $150
- Profit target: $2,400
- Maximum funding: $60,000 ($10,000 increments)
- $50,000 funding
- Price: $300
- Profit target: $6,000
- Maximum funding: $150,000 ($25,000 increments)
- $100,000 funding
- Price: $550
- Profit target: $12,000
- Maximum funding: $300,000 ($50,000 increments)
- $200,000 funding
- Price: $1,050
- Profit target: $24,000
- Maximum funding: $600,000 ($100,000 increments)
- $300,000 funding
- Price: $1,550
- Profit target: $36,000
- Maximum funding: $1,200,000 ($200,000 increments)
Funded programs are scaled every 30 days if profit target of 12% is attained.
You choose to pass either a 1-stage challenge as outlined above or divide it into two stages with half the target for each stage. For example, if you choose a 2-stage challenge with $100,000 funding, you have to achieve at least $6,000 profit during the first stage and the same $6,000 during the second stage; everything else remains the same compared with the 1-stage challenge process.
Main conditions
12% for 1-stage, 6% for 2-stage
3%
Scaled profit share system
- Rank 0: 0 XP required, 70% profit share.
- Rank 1: 10 XP required, 75% profit share.
- Rank 2: 25 XP required, 80% profit share.
- Rank 3: 50 XP required, 85% profit share.
- Rank 4: 100 XP required, 90% profit share.
- Rank 5: 200 XP required, 95% profit share.
You earn XP by taking and passing challenges, passing verification, receiving payouts, and scaling funding.
PipFarm prop firm parameters
3 days
US dollar
up to 1:50. The leverage is dynamic and scales down with the current exposure volume in a given trading symbol.
Forex, commodities, indices, cryptocurrencies.
$6/lot round trip
cTrader
No
Rise, bank transfer, PayPal, cryptocurrencies, Payoneer, Revolut, Wise, Coinbase, Binance, Skrill.
over-weekend and overnight trades are allowed, expert advisors are allowed, news trading is allowed, loyalty program that lets you earn various power-ups.
dormant accounts are deleted after 30 days without active trades.
high-frequency trading (HFT) bots, hedging trades via multiple prop accounts, using prop firm passing services, extremely aggressive risky trades.
English
2. FTUK
FTUK provides a scaling account size. A trader starts at level 1 account and can go up to level 7 (level 8 available as an addon). Each level has an increased account size as well as other benefits. To reach a new level, a trader needs to achieve a profit target.
FTUK offers two funding programs:
- Evaluation — starts on a demo account at level 1, goes to a live account at level 2. Profit earning starts at level 2. Lower registration fees.
- Instant Funding — starts on a live account at level 1. Profit earning starts at level 1, though the trader needs to reach the level 1 profit target to be able to withdraw funds. Higher registration fees.
Registration fee and account size: Funds on your account can be in one of the three currencies: USD, EUR, GBP. To save space, the following list will only show the values in dollars. The list has the following format: registration fees for evaluation/instant funding accounts - starting account size at level 1 - maximum account size at level 7.
- $149/$200 - $3,500 - $448,000
- $349/$500 - $10,000 - $1,280,000
- $449/$750 - $15,000 - $1,920,000
- $599/$1,200 - $22,500 - $2,880,000
10%
8%
Depends on the account level. Up to 1:100.
Forex, metals, indices, commodities, and cryptocurrencies.
FTUK offers a variety of powerful addons. Unlock level 8 (essentially, double the maximum trading capital) — +10% to the fee (free with a special promotion). Joining fee refund — +15% to the fee. Evaluation retake — + 50% to the fee. No stop-loss — + 20%.
None.
80%
cTrader, DXtrade, Match-Trader.
Payouts below $500 are made via crypto from Confirmo using USDT TRC-20. Payouts above $500 are made in fiat currency via RiseWorks.
One-to-one, trader interviews, a private session with a support coach available at a request. Expert advisors and robots are allowed. Trade copying is allowed from a non-FTUK account to a FTUK account but not between different FTUK accounts. Overnight, scalping, news, weekend trades are allowed. Hedging allowed.
3. FTMO
unlimited period, minimum 4 trading days
maximum 5% daily loss and 10% total loss, 10% profit target during the first period (5% for the second period), EUR155/EUR345/EUR540/ EUR1,080 fee (based on the account size).
with the first profit split.
5% max daily loss
Allowed in swing accounts, restricted depending on the instrument and the news event on the funded accounts, not restricted during challenge.
$10,000 / $25,000 / $50,000 / $100,000 / $200,000
USD, GBP, EUR, CZK, CAD, AUD, CHF
80%/20% scalable to 90%/10%
1:100 (1:30 for swing accounts)
Forex, commodities, indices, cryptocurrencies, stocks, bonds.
Yes
MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, DXtrade.
Yes
Skrill, bank wire, cryptocurrencies
swing account available if you want to keep trades open over-weekend, account balance scaling available to successful traders, mentorship, performance coach.
English, German, Czech, Vietnamese, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese.
4. The 5%ers
The 5%ers offer three schemes to choose from:
1. Hyper Growth Program with three balance options. All options support up to $4M growth with an extended 10% profit target, 1:30 leverage, no time limit for evaluation, and payout split up to 100%/0% after funding:
start with $5K, stop-out $4.7K, 50%/50% payout split — $260 fee.
start with $10K, stop-out $9.4K, 50%/50% payout split — $450 fee.
start with $20K, stop-out $18.8K, 50%/50% payout split — $850 fee.
2. High-Stakes Challenge — a high-risk high-reward scaling program with 2-step evaluation:
$5K/$39; $20K/$165; $60K/$300; $100K/$495. Refunded after successfully completing the Step 2 of evaluation.
Unlimited
3 during evaluation, 3 for scaling of funded accounts.
5%
10%
Step1 – 8%; Step 2 – 5%; Funded – 10% for scaling.
30 days
1:100
3. 100K Bootcamp — three challenges with 6% profit target, 5% max loss, 1:10 leverage, and no time limit. Stop-loss risking no more than 2% of account balance required in all positions and orders.
Account size/Cost: $20,000/Free; $100,000/$95; $250,000/$225.
$5K/$25K/$100K start
$10K/$50K/$150K start
$15K/$75K/$200K start
$20K/$100K/$250K-$4M balance, 5% profit target, 4% max loss, 1:10 leverage, up to 100%/0% profit split (starts with 50%/50%), additional $205/$350 fee for $100K/$250K accounts.
Allowed with some restrictions (including no execution of orders 2 minutes before and after the event for the High-Stakes Program)
US dollar
Forex, gold & silver, indices, Bitcoin, Ethereum, crude oil
$4/lot round trip
MetaTrader 5
No
Bank transfer, Rise, The5ers VISA Card, and cryptocurrencies
long-term trading possible, news trading possible, free webinars, psychological coaching, daily live trading rooms, EAs allowed with some restrictions, copy trading of your own strategies allowed across all accounts with no restrictions.
Guide to choosing the best Forex prop firm
Going with a prop firm that is right for your trading style and financial goals in crucial. Although choosing the best one seems to be a non-trivial process, you can easily accomplish this by following our guide to choosing a prop firm.
Why are you joining a prop firm? Do you need more funds? Do you want to learn to trade under strict risk controls? Is evaluation period suitable for you or is it too long? Will you have place to grow or will you be limited to the same 100k account? All these questions need to be answered if you wish to find your perfect prop firm.
There is no regulation in the retail prop trading industry. That is why a company's reputation is paramount. Was it around for a few years? Was it founded by someone you know from the trading community? Do you like how their representatives interact with the community? Many traders rely on TrustPilot ratings nowadays, but those can be (and in some cases are) manipulated.
Does the prop firm have currency pairs you need? Do they have CFDs you want to trade? If you specialize in some exotic currency pair or other trading instrument, it is best to make sure that you can trade it on a chosen website.
Are you OK with 50/50 or do you think that 80/20 is fairer? The issue of a profit split is deeply interconnected with the fee structure, so sometimes you need to balance out what you pay in fees with what you pay in profit splits.
You don't want to overpay, especially if you aren't getting back any substantial improvements. When considering prop firms that work based on monthly fees, consider whether your profit will exceed monthly fees. Watch for fee reimbursement options when dealing with a profit split company.
Most retail prop firms offer MT4, but there are other platforms available, especially when trading futures. If you need some special platform, it is best to make sure that the prop firm can offer it. If they offer some exotic platform only, make sure it has the features you need. For example, if you often have to trade or perform analysis from a mobile phone, it should offer some sort of a mobile app.
Even if you are a profitable trader, chances are you can benefit from some kind of training and learning new material. This is where courses come handy. And those proprietary trading companies that are interested in making their traders more profitable offer rather good courses. Moreover, some of them offer coaching too and not only for trading, but also for psychological support, which is often an overlooked factor in a trader's path to success.
You will run into technical and financial issues when working with a prop firm. If the website can offer timely and professional support, it can be of huge help to avoid extra stress and keep yourself focused on actual trading rather than on accompanying problems.
Some prop firms run promotions and offer discounts for subscribing to their newsletters and similar stuff. You can benefit from such setups, especially if you are new to prop trading, and spending your hard-earned money on something you don't yet believe will suit you is a difficult choice.
This depends on the jurisdictions involved. Normally, it is legal for the prop firm to offer a platform and share of profits for a fee. In most countries, it is usually legal for traders to work with such a company. However, you should consult your local lawyer to be 100% sure whether Forex prop trading is legal where you live. No, prop firms also offer CFDs for indices and futures. Some prop firms, in fact, only offer futures trading. So no, prop trading isn't limited to currency pairs. Although it might seem like an easy opportunity to earn money, prop trading is still very risky. Its main advantage is that you don't need to commit a lot of your own capital to get started. Whether what you earn will be enough to cover your living costs will depend on your proficiency as a trader and the actual cost of your living. No, each firm has its own pros and cons depending on their trading conditions and trader's methods and goals. If you need a company that has weekly payouts, a prop firm with excellent trading conditions that is paying out monthly won't be the best one for you. Or if you are looking for 1:500 leverage, a company with 1:30 leverage that satisfy all your other needs will likely be a subpar choice for you.Forex proprietary trading firms FAQ
Is prop trading legal?
Do prop firms only offer Forex pairs?
Can I earn for a living with prop trading?
Is there such a thing as the best prop firm in Forex?
Conclusion
In general, a prop firm is a great way to get started in Forex and financial trading in general if you lack substantial starting funds on your own. For better off traders, prop trading is still a convenient path to better risk management and self-control.
Important:
You have to understand that such online Forex prop firms (also often called scouting firms) are not the same traditional proprietary trading companies that actually employ traders and have their interests completely aligned with their traders.
Discuss
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