Are funded accounts orders really submitted to the exchanges and make it into the orderbook?
A prop firm funding talent recently went down, and they didn't even submit funded account orders to the exchanges, it was all simulated in their virtual book.
Can you help answer these questions from other members on futures io?
All the main firms are clear about whether the traders are on sim accounts, how long they stay on sim for and if the company moves will them on to real funded accounts; or whether they start on real funded accounts straight away once passing the program.
There is lots of discussion in each of the company threads, and in this thread, and the details are in each of the Company's FAQs.
When the trader is offered a choice of account type, whether sim or real then I know Topstep for instance (as I have experience with them), provide comprehensive details on the Sim accounts: Pro Account, Express Account which then transfer int to a real Premium Funded Account once the maximum balance is reached; or the original Funded Account.
Nobody is going to end up trading a sim account unknowingly, firstly as said before in these threads, the trader gets paid so what's the problem anyway, but because it is very easy to tell if one is on a sim account and check whether orders are being submitted so no company is going to be caught out with such an obvious reputation damaging lie trying to pass off a real account as sim.
Trading, ideally structured, is a vehicle for expanding consciousness, not damaging it. - Brett Steenbarger
The following 3 users say Thank You to matthew28 for this post:
It is best to be specific about these things. "A prop firm" could be anything.
I think it is natural enough to be skeptical about anything in trading, but not every firm is necessarily the same, and not everything is necessarily fake. If the question is whether "funded accounts" are only using simulated orders, what firm is being talked about, and what is the reason for the question?
As @matthew28 just mentioned, it is easy to tell: enter a limit order far from the current market and see if it appears on the DOM. If so, that one really made it to the exchange. Simple. This experiment has been done and referenced a few times now, and in the case of that firm (it was Topstep), the order showed up on the DOM, so it was real and not sim.
However, many firms now have complicated arrangements they offer, including sim accounts they will pay out on, so which firm and which variation a person is talking about may matter.
Being specific, and as factual as possible, is a good idea. And not every firm is necessarily the same as any other.
Bob.
When one door closes, another opens.
-- Cervantes, Don Quixote
The following 3 users say Thank You to bobwest for this post:
Meant futures trading funding companies like the ones discussed here, LeeLoo, Apex Trader Funding, TickTickTrader, etc...
Placing a limit order in the orderbook was exactly the test I had in mind, I don't have an account in any of those companies so that's the information I was looking for from anyone who is funded by one of them.
