Everything you need to know about proprietary trading, evaluation challenges, and how to build a funded trading career with Dolvero.
Let's start with the basics and build your understanding from the ground up.
A proprietary trading firm (or "prop firm") is a company that provides capital to skilled traders to trade with, rather than trading with the trader's own money. Think of it as a partnership: you bring the trading skills, they provide the capital, and you split the profits.
Instead of risking $100,000 of your own money, you can trade with $100,000 of the firm's money after proving your skills through an evaluation process. This allows talented traders to access much larger capital than they could afford personally.
You have proven trading strategies and discipline, but lack the capital to scale your returns meaningfully. Instead of making $500/month on a $10K account, you could make $5,000/month on a $100K account.
You want to trade larger amounts without risking your personal savings, retirement funds, or family's financial security. Your maximum loss is limited to the evaluation fee, not your entire account.
You want to build a professional trading career and potentially scale to institutional-level capital ($1M+) based on performance rather than personal wealth.
Understanding the fundamental mechanics of proprietary trading
You pay a fee (much smaller than the trading capital) to take an evaluation challenge. This proves you can trade profitably while following risk management rules.
Upon passing, you receive a funded account with the firm's capital. You trade this account following the same rules you proved you could follow during evaluation.
Profits are split between you and the firm. You typically keep 70-90% of profits you generate, while the firm keeps the remainder as compensation for providing capital and infrastructure.
Understanding how prop firms generate revenue helps you choose the right partner:
Some firms make most money from evaluation fees, hoping traders fail. They have incentives to make rules unclear or change them unexpectedly. High failure rates = more repeat fees.
Quality firms make most money from their share of trading profits. They want you to succeed long-term because successful traders generate ongoing revenue. Clear rules, good support, fast payouts.
Why Dolvero stands apart in the prop trading industry
Every rule is written in plain English. No hidden clauses, no sudden rule changes, no subjective interpretations. What you see is what you get.
We make money when you make money. Our business model aligns with your success, not your failure. Long-term partnerships over short-term fees.
Built by former institutional traders who understand what professional trading requires. No games, no tricks, just professional trading infrastructure.
Clear path from evaluation to institutional-level capital. Performance-based scaling with no artificial limits on your growth potential.
Take as long as you need to reach profit targets. Quality trading over rushed decisions. This eliminates the pressure that leads to overtrading and blown accounts.
Your evaluation rules are locked when you start. No moving goalposts, no retroactive changes, no surprise violations. Consistency you can rely on.
Your profits are processed within 24 hours of withdrawal request. Track every step of the process in real-time. No delays, no excuses.
Consistent performance automatically increases your account size. No applications, no waiting periods. Performance speaks, and rewards follow.
| Feature | Dolvero | Typical Prop Firm |
|---|---|---|
| Time Limits | None | 30-60 days |
| Rule Changes | Never | Common |
| Payout Time | 24 hours | 3-14 days |
| Fee Refund | 100% | Rare |
| Max Scaling | $10M+ | $200K-$1M |
Step-by-step breakdown of how to become a funded trader
Demonstrate you can generate consistent profits while managing risk. This phase tests your ability to execute your strategy under realistic conditions.
Confirm your Phase 1 performance wasn't luck. This phase demonstrates consistency and prepares you for funded trading with a more moderate profit target.
Even experienced traders sometimes fail evaluations. Market conditions change, strategies need adjustment, or sometimes you're just having an off period. This is completely normal and part of the learning process.
Purchase a new challenge and try again. Many successful funded traders passed on their second or third attempt after learning from mistakes.
Review your trading history, identify what went wrong, refine your strategy, and come back stronger. We provide detailed analytics to help with this.
If you struggled with a $100K challenge, consider starting with $25K or $50K to build confidence and experience before scaling up.
Clear, consistent rules that never change
You cannot lose more than 5% of your starting balance in any single day (server time midnight to midnight).
Example: $100,000 account → Maximum daily loss = $5,000. If your equity drops to $95,000 or below at any point during the day, you've violated this rule.
Your account cannot drop below 90% of the initial balance at any time.
Example: $100,000 account → Maximum loss = $10,000. If your balance/equity reaches $90,000 or below, the account is closed.
You must trade on at least 5 separate days to pass each evaluation phase.
What counts: Opening at least one trade that day
What doesn't count: Days where you only close existing positions
No trading 2 minutes before and 2 minutes after high-impact news events. This protects against spread widening and slippage that can cause unfair losses.
What happens after you pass the evaluation
You've proven your skills and discipline. Now you're trading with real capital and keeping 80% of all profits you generate.
How payouts work and when you get paid
Upgrade to 90% profit split for a small additional fee. Perfect for consistent profitable traders who want to maximize their earnings.
After 14 days of funded trading
Every 14 days (bi-weekly)
Click "Request Payout" in your dashboard
System verifies trading compliance (< 1 hour)
Funds sent via your chosen method
Within 24 hours guaranteed
How to grow from $25K to $10M+ in funding
Your account automatically scales based on consistent profitable performance. No applications, no waiting, just trade well and grow.
Note: Timeline assumes consistent performance meeting all scaling criteria. Individual results vary based on trading performance.
Manage up to 3 funded accounts simultaneously. Different strategies, different markets, triple the opportunity. Each account scales independently based on its own performance.
Forex Major Pairs
Indices Trading
Commodities
Essential principles for long-term trading success
Never risk more than 1% of your account on a single trade. This ensures you can withstand a series of losses without significant drawdown.
As drawdown increases, reduce position sizes and increase selectivity. This prevents emotional trading and protects your account during rough patches.
Normal trading, full position sizes
Reduce position size by 25%
Reduce position size by 50%
Take a break, review strategy
Learn from others' experiences to protect your funded account
Trying to immediately recover losses by taking larger, riskier trades. This emotional response often leads to bigger losses and account termination.
Solution: Take a break after losses. Follow your plan, not your emotions.
Taking too many trades to reach profit targets quickly. Quality over quantity always wins in prop trading.
Solution: Set daily trade limits. Wait for A+ setups only.
Trading during high-impact news without realizing it. Spreads widen, slippage increases, and stops get hunted.
Solution: Check economic calendar every morning. Set alerts for major events.
Widening stops to avoid taking losses. This breaks risk management rules and often leads to maximum loss violations.
Solution: Set stops before entry and never move them against you.
Forgetting to close positions before weekend (if not allowed). Weekend gaps can cause instant violations.
Solution: Set Friday alerts. Or purchase weekend holding addon.
Jumping into trades without proper analysis because "the market is moving."
Fix: The market provides opportunities every day. Wait for your setup.
Only seeing signals that confirm your existing position or bias.
Fix: Always look for reasons why your trade could be wrong.
Increasing risk or abandoning rules after a winning streak.
Fix: Stick to your system regardless of recent results.
Over-analyzing to the point where you miss good trading opportunities.
Fix: Set clear criteria and act when they're met.
Proven strategies from traders who've made it
Consistency + Patience + Discipline = Funded Success
Same strategy, same rules, every single day
Wait for perfect setups, no forcing trades
Follow your plan no matter what
Document every trade with entry reason, exit reason, and lessons learned
Analyze what worked, what didn't, and adjust accordingly
Maximum trades, maximum loss, and walk away when reached
Good process leads to profits, not the other way around
Markets evolve, and so should your knowledge and strategies
Your journey to funded trading starts here
Start with an amount you're comfortable managing. Most traders begin with $50K-$100K.
Customize the challenge to match your trading style with optional add-ons.
Simple 2-minute signup process. No complex applications or waiting periods.
Access your evaluation account immediately. Trade when you're ready, no rush.
There's no time limit. Most traders complete both phases in 2-8 weeks, but you can take as long as needed.
Yes, EAs are allowed. We support all legitimate trading strategies except high-frequency trading and arbitrage.
You can purchase a new challenge and try again. Many successful traders passed on their 2nd or 3rd attempt.
Yes! You receive a 100% refund of your evaluation fee with your first profit withdrawal from your funded account.
Yes, you can manage up to 3 funded accounts simultaneously, allowing you to diversify strategies and scale earnings.