Path 2 Prop

How It Works (3 Phases)

Phase 1: Prove It (Sim Payout Accounts)

Trade your PTSA/Gladiator accounts and build a real performance profile: risk-aware, repeatable, and compliant. Our risk & compliance teams continuously review accounts to spot traders ready for live capital. If and when you fit the profile, we’ll reach out to start RPTA onboarding – there’s no extra contribution from you. 

What we look for (at a high level):

• Profitability with drawdown control
• Consistency under live-like limits
• Clean compliance (no prohibited practices)

Note: PropShopTrader may, at its discretion and in the best interest of firm risk management, transition any trader from a simulated environment to a live trading environment if their performance, consistency, or risk profile is deemed suitable. Such transitions may occur before or after a payout request has been submitted and may or may not result in the participant receiving their most recently requested payout.

Phase 2: Transition Phase (RPTA Onboarding)

Live Account Structure: Traders can hold up to three (3) Real Prop Trading Accounts at once. If you hold multiple active Gladiator accounts, each eligible account will be reviewed for transition based on performance, compliance, and risk consistency.

• How it works:

• • • If you have 5 active Gladiator accounts, a maximum of three may qualify for live transition.
    • Once you have received your three (3) Live Accounts, you will no longer be eligible to receive Sim payouts. At this stage, all trading activity and earnings will occur exclusively under your Real Prop Trading Accounts (RPTAs) in the live environment.

Examples:

Example 1:

If a trader holds 5 × 25K or 5 × 50K Gladiator accounts, and at least three qualify for Live transition, those three can be converted into Live accounts – each starting with a $2,500 max static drawdown (total $7,500 across all three).

Example 2:

If a trader holds 5 × 100K or higher Gladiator accounts, and three qualify for Live transition, each transitioned Live account will start with a $5,000 static drawdown, providing up to $15,000 total static drawdown across all three accounts.

Onboarding Process: If selected, you’ll complete a short onboarding to confirm identity, align on rules, and set your starting risk with our Risk Manager. Once cleared, you’ll receive your Real Prop Trading Account (RPTA) with professional parameters. This process may take 1-3 weeks to complete (FCM/Clearing Firm timelines).

RPTA Starting Framework (typical range):

• Max Static Drawdown: $2,500–$5,000
  
  • A static drawdown stays fixed from the start – it does not trail or move with your profits. Your account only breaches when total losses reach the minimum balance.
  • This is different from intraday or end-of-day (EOD) trailing drawdowns, where the minimum threshold moves up as your balance increases. A static drawdown remains constant throughout the account’s lifecycle but never adjusts upward with gains.
• Daily Loss Limit: $500-$1,000
  
  • The Daily Loss Limit is a soft breach, meaning your account will be locked for the rest of the trading day if this limit is hit. You will not be able to place additional trades until the next trading day begins.
• Contract size: Start with 2-4 minis (≈ 20-40 micros) with potential to scale up based on frequent risk reviews.
  
  • Note: Contract size is only a starting point. Once you’re through the transition phase (details below), you can easily ramp up.
• Payouts:
  
  • No Payout caps/limits in this phase.
  • You can request $500 minimum (weekly – no caps.
  • Starting with an 80/20 split with upside potential.
• Pro/Non-Pro Status:  Upon transition, traders are classified under Professional (Pro) status, with corresponding market data entitlements and pro-level data feeds. This ensures you trade with the same real-time market access and infrastructure as professional traders operating in live capital environments.

A Message from the Risk Team

We often hear traders ask:

“Why would I move from trading multiple simulated accounts with big drawdowns to a smaller live account?”

It’s a fair question — but it’s built on the wrong mindset.

The goal of simulation is to prepare you for live trading, not to replace it. The goal of a prop firm is to use simulation accounts as a means to vet talent and give traders a chance to show their potential. The reality is that simulated trading allows far more simulated leverage and leniency than live trading ever will. In simulation, you can spread risk across multiple accounts and trade large size without emotional consequences. In live trading, that safety net is gone — and that’s where most traders fail, not because they lack skill, but because they’ve never learned true risk discipline.

The transition to live isn’t about restriction — it’s about responsibility.

Our job as a risk team is to protect both you and the firm by helping traders bridge the gap between simulation and live performance. That means starting smaller, managing tighter risk, and proving consistency before scaling. This process isn’t punishment — it’s how professional traders are built.

When you go live, you’re no longer being tested — you’re being trusted. The smaller limits at the start are there to give you the space to adjust your psychology, trade under a different type of pressure, and build confidence with real capital. Once you’ve demonstrated control and consistency during the brief transition period, we’ll expand your limits and scale your access to capital.

At this stage, it’s not about how big you can trade — it’s about how well you can trade.

The traders who understand this are the ones who make it through every phase, growing from simulated payouts to real, consistent, professional income.

This is what separates those who trade for challenges from those who trade for a career.