What Is Paper Trading, and How Can It Get You a Funded Trading Account?
5 minutes
If you've spent any time researching prop trading firms, you've probably run into the term "paper trading" more than once. It's the foundation of how most funded trading programs work — including AceTrader's Evaluation plan. But if you're new to prop trading, the concept can feel a little abstract. This guide breaks down exactly what paper trading is, why firms use it, and how you can turn a paper trading evaluation into a real, funded trading account.
What Is Paper Trading?
Paper trading (also called simulated trading) means placing trades in a simulated market environment using virtual capital instead of your own money. Prices, spreads, and market conditions mirror the real market in real time, but the funds you're trading with aren't actually at risk. If you win a trade, your simulated balance goes up. If you lose, no real money disappears.
The term dates back to when traders would literally track hypothetical trades on paper before committing real capital. Today, it's done entirely through software, but the core idea hasn't changed: prove your strategy works before real money — or someone else's capital — is on the line.
Why Prop Trading Firms Use Paper Trading
Proprietary trading firms exist to fund skilled traders with the firm's capital in exchange for a share of the profits. But before a firm hands over $10,000 or $20,000 of trading capital, it needs evidence that a trader can:
Follow risk management rules (like maximum drawdown limits)
Hit a realistic profit target without blowing up the account
Paper trading evaluations let a firm verify all of this without risking real capital until the trader has proven they're ready.
How the Paper Trading Evaluation Works
Every prop firm structures its evaluation a little differently, but the general flow looks like this:
Step | What Happens |
|---|---|
1. Choose a plan | Pick an account size and pricing tier based on how much capital you want to trade |
2. Subscribe monthly | Pay a recurring fee to access the evaluation (this is much cheaper than buying funded capital outright) |
3. Trade to hit targets | Trade the simulated account and hit the profit goal while staying within the rules |
4. Get funded | Once you pass, you move to a live Trade Fund account and start earning real payouts |
Note: AceTrader also offers instant funding model, where you skip the evaluation entirely and pay a one-time fee to start trading toward a payout right away.
AceTrader's Evaluation Plan, Explained
Subscribe monthly, complete the evaluation targets on a simulated account, and earn a funded Trade Fund account.
Starter | Standard | Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|
Price | $9 / 30 days | $99 / 30 days | $169 / 30 days |
Capital | $1,000 | $10,000 (MEME: $12,000) | $20,000 (MEME: $24,000) |
Profit goal | $500 | $3,000 (MEME: $3,600) | $6,000 (MEME: $7,200) |
Max drawdown | $100 | $600 (MEME: $720) | $1,200 (MEME: $1,440) |
Min. trading days | 7 days | 5 days | 5 days |
Free reset | 1 per renewal | 1 per renewal | 1 per renewal |
From Paper Trading to Real Payouts: What Happens After You Pass
Once you've completed your evaluation's profit goal, minimum trading days, and drawdown rules, your account converts into a live Trade Fund account. From there:
You trade with AceTrader's capital, not virtual funds
You keep 80% of profits by default — or up to 90% when funding your account with MEME
Minimum payout threshold is $100
Winning-day requirements drop to as few as 3 days when paying with MEME, versus 5 days on standard tokens
The MEME Payment Advantage
One detail worth highlighting: funding your evaluation or instant fund plan with MEME unlocks a meaningfully better deal across the board — larger capital allocations, a bigger profit goal ceiling but proportionally friendlier drawdown limits, a faster 3-day path to your first payout, and a 90% profit split instead of 80%. If you're already comfortable holding MEME, it's the more efficient route to funding.
Verifiable, On-Chain Payouts
A common concern with prop firms is trust — will they actually pay out? AceTrader addresses this with a public, on-chain transparency dashboard, where every payout is verifiable directly through the block explorer. You don't have to take marketing claims at face value; you can check the payout history yourself.
Getting Started
Paper trading isn't just a hurdle to jump through — it's a genuinely useful tool for proving (to yourself and to the firm funding you) that your strategy holds up under real market conditions without real financial risk. The path to AceTrader funded account and real payouts is straightforward:
View full pricing details to compare all plans side by side
Check the transparency dashboard to see verified payouts on-chain
Start your evaluation on the app and begin trading toward your first payout
This article is for informational purposes. Trading involves risk, and past performance or program structure does not guarantee future results.