FreeMalta · Funded Trading
Trade with
their money.
In prop trading, you don't risk your own capital. Prove your skill, trade with the firm's funds, keep the majority of the profits. Without losing a cent until you understand the rules.
Powered by Rabofund — Funded Trader Challenges
Core Concepts
What prop trading is,
and what it isn't.
Most people start with the wrong idea. Get these straight first.
Concept 01
Prop Trading
Proprietary trading. A firm using its own capital — for its own account. In the retail world: trading with capital the firm gives you. You share the profits; losses stay within the firm's defined limits.
Concept 02
Funded Account
A simulated funded account given to traders who pass a challenge. It operates under real market conditions. Profits are real; losses are capped by the account rules.
Concept 03
Challenge / Evaluation
The test you must pass before getting a funded account. Hit a profit target within a set period, don't breach the max drawdown. Every firm's rules differ.
Concept 04
Profit Split
The profit-sharing ratio. Industry standard: 80% trader, 20% firm. Rabofund goes up to 90%. Check this ratio and the payout conditions before buying any challenge.
Concept 05
Max Drawdown
The maximum loss the account can sustain. Breach it and the account closes. Typically 5% daily loss and 10% overall. This rule measures discipline — and it's where most traders fail.
Concept 06
Scaling
Successful traders can earn the right to grow their account. Start at $10K, scale to $200K based on performance. The most powerful mechanism in the prop world.
Concept 07
Simulated Account
Funded accounts at prop firms use virtual capital. This is what protects you: losses aren't real. Payouts are real — if you generate profits, the firm pays you.
Concept 08
KYC
Know Your Customer. Identity verification is required when you move to the funded stage. Usually not needed for the challenge itself — but always required before payout.
Concept 09
Challenge Fee
The only real cost of prop trading. Typically $50–$150 for a $10K account. What you're buying: the right to be tested, access to simulated capital, and the ability to earn real payouts.
Comparison
Prop trading vs retail trading.
The difference is critical.
The risk structure is completely different. Understand which one suits you before opening any account.
✦ Prop Trading
You trade with the firm's capital
Maximum loss: the challenge fee
Access a $200K account for ~$150
Clear rules that measure discipline
Success = scaling to a larger account
Rules are rigid — breach them and the account closes
Simulated account — psychology can feel different
Retail Trading
Your account, your rules
No time pressure, no firm rules
Manage the account however you like
You can lose your entire capital
$200K account requires $200K
Discipline pressure must come from within
Emotional decision-making is the biggest risk
History
How prop trading was born
on Wall Street.
This isn't hype. It's a well-established industry with roots going back to the 1970s.
The Wall Street Desks
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Salomon Brothers began trading actively for their own accounts. These "prop desks" existed to profit from the firm's own positions — not client orders.
Black Monday
Markets dropped 22% in a single day. Prop desk volatility management was forged in this period. Risk rules, position limits and drawdown protocols are all legacies of this era.
The Tech Revolution
Algorithmic trading and HFT (High Frequency Trading) firms emerged. Virtu Financial, Jane Street, Citadel Securities — the new generation of prop firms live in servers, not buildings.
The Volcker Rule
After the 2008 crisis, banks were restricted from trading for their own accounts (Volcker Rule, enacted 2010). Experienced prop traders leaving banks founded independent firms. The foundation of modern retail prop was laid.
Retail Democratisation
Firms like FTMO, The5ers and MyFundedFX began offering funded accounts to retail traders. The "challenge model" — pay $50–$200, pass the test, trade with our capital — spread worldwide.
The Boom
The pandemic retail trading surge pulled prop trading along with it. By 2024, active traders in the sector exceeded 1 million. New-generation firms like Rabofund entered the market on Match-Trader and TradingView infrastructure.
Ready to get funded?
Rabofund — Challenges from $2K to $200K · Up to 90% profit split
Start Challenge →
Case Studies
Who built what
in prop trading.
The firms and traders who shaped the industry. Success and failure are both instructive.
Origin Story · 1991
Steve Cohen started with $25M. Today Point72 manages $30 billion.
Steve Cohen, who founded SAC Capital in 1992, was a prop trader by definition — actively managing his own capital and investors' funds through direct trading. Average annual returns above 30%. Discipline and process management came before everything else: daily loss limits per trader, weekly reviews, systematic risk management. Renamed Point72 in 2022. Today: $30B+ AUM.
The lesson: prop trading relies on systems, not individual brilliance. Cohen's greatest strength wasn't portfolio selection — it was risk discipline.
$25M → $30B+ · 30+ years of process discipline
Modern Retail Prop · 2014–Present
FTMO started in a Prague garage. Now it's the world's largest retail prop firm.
Founded in the Czech Republic in 2014, FTMO pioneered the challenge model for giving retail traders funded accounts. The idea was simple: good traders lack capital — if they had it, they'd earn well. So give them the capital and share the profits. By 2023: 200,000+ funded traders, $2M+ in monthly payouts.
FTMO's success validated the whole sector. Today, 100+ firms including Rabofund run this model. The differences: rules, infrastructure, payout reliability, and trader support.
1M+ active prop traders industry-wide (2024)
Warning Story · 2023
My Forex Funds was shut down. What happened to $300M+ in trader money remains unclear.
In 2023, the CFTC and Ontario Securities Commission took action against My Forex Funds (MFF). The allegation: MFF promised real market conditions while actually running traders through its own internal system, engineered to make them lose. Assets were frozen, the site went dark.
The lesson: not all prop firms are equal. Transparency, registration details, an independently verifiable payout history, and trader community references are critical. Before buying any challenge, check Trustpilot, Reddit and industry review sites.
Researching the firm matters as much as passing the challenge
Who It's For
Prop trading: right for you,
or not.
Answer this honestly. It saves both time and money.
Could be right for you
You have a rule-based trading system
Setting stop losses is a habit, not a debate
Consistent profits on demo or small live account
You keep a trading journal
You maintain discipline under psychological pressure
You want to scale capital but don't have the starting funds
Probably not for you
Profitable on demo but lose discipline live
You move stop losses, you average down
You say "this time it's different"
You trade on instinct, not a system
You're expecting fast money
You can't afford to lose the challenge fee
If you ticked the right column — try a challenge.
Rabofund · Free monthly $500K tournaments · Match-Trader & TradingView
View Challenges →
Industry Size
Where prop trading stands
in the world.
Sector data 2024–2026. Numbers, not hype.
1M+
Active retail prop traders
$500M+
Monthly sector payout (est.)
80–90%
Standard profit split
Industry Reality
Most traders fail the challenge. That's not a flaw — it's a filter.
Industry data suggests funded trader rates range between 10–25%. That sounds low — but what it actually says is this: the challenge is designed to identify genuinely disciplined traders. Traders who fail don't lose their own capital in the process. The challenge fee is, in effect, the cost of a high-stakes practice run.
What matters is analysing why you failed. Max drawdown breach? Impatience with profit targets? Keep a trading journal. Every failed challenge produces data for the next one.
Failed challenge = paid education · No personal capital at risk
Powered by Rabofund
Which challenge model
suits your style.
Four paths, four different risk-speed trade-offs. Rabofund's full model lineup.
2-Step Classic
The most common model. Phase 1 → Phase 2 → Funded. Built for disciplined, systematic traders. The longest path — and the most reliable approval.
1-Step Pro
Single-stage evaluation. For traders who want to get funded faster. Rules are slightly tighter.
Fast Track
An accelerated model. Designed to reach funded status in a shorter time. Higher fee reflects the speed.
Instant Funded
No challenge. Direct account access. Risk limits are tighter, profit split structure differs slightly. For those who want to start immediately.
Prove your skill.
Trade with their capital.
Join a Rabofund challenge. Account sizes from $2K to $200K. Up to 90% profit split. Free monthly tournaments with $500K prize pools.
Explore Challenges →
rabofund.com · Match-Trader & TradingView · Visa / Mastercard / Crypto
Where To Trade
The platforms FreeMalta trusts.
Malta-regulated, EU-compliant. Pair them with your Rabofund funded account or use them independently.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is prop trading and how is it different from a broker account?
With a regular broker, you risk your own money. With a prop firm, you trade the firm's capital — not your own. You keep a percentage of the profits (typically 80–90%), and losses are absorbed by the firm within defined limits. The difference in practice: with a broker account you risk $5,000 of your own money. With a prop firm, you get a $100,000 account for a $150 challenge fee — the firm carries the rest of the risk.
What happens if I fail the challenge?
You lose the challenge fee. Nothing else — your own money stays safe. That's what makes prop trading's risk structure different from retail: your maximum loss is the challenge fee. If you fail repeatedly, the costs add up — but for a disciplined trader, a challenge is a far cheaper entry point than opening a live account with real capital at risk.
How do prop firms make money?
Most prop firms generate the bulk of their revenue from challenge fees. The proportion of traders who get funded is small — that's by design. Better firms also earn from profit splits with genuinely funded traders. Look for transparent rules and a verifiable payout history. Be sceptical of firms claiming unusually high funded rates.
What assets can I trade?
Most prop firms support forex, indices (SPX, NAS100, DAX), commodities (gold, oil) and crypto CFDs. Some include equities. At Rabofund, all of these are accessible via Match-Trader and TradingView. Overnight and weekend holding permissions, and news trading rules, vary by firm — always check before you buy a challenge.
Who should not do prop trading?
Prop trading is not for traders who chase profit targets impulsively, refuse to set stop losses, add to losing positions hoping for a recovery, or have no rule-based system. Prop firm rules are unambiguous: breach the max drawdown and the account closes. That's not a punishment — it's the discipline filter doing exactly what it's supposed to do.
What makes Rabofund different from other prop firms?
Rabofund runs on Match-Trader and TradingView — solid infrastructure. Four challenge models: 2-Step, 1-Step, Fast Track, and Instant. Account sizes from $2K to $200K, profit split up to 90%. Free monthly tournaments with $500K prize pools. Registered in Saint Lucia, payment operations via Panama. Small but active community: 500+ active traders.
This page has been produced in partnership with Rabofund. FreeMalta may earn a commission if you open an account through our links — at no additional cost to you. Prop trading uses simulated accounts; all balances and trading activity displayed are virtual. This page is educational content only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Always do your own research and review Rabofund's terms and risk disclaimer before proceeding.
