Knowledge. Understand the rules, then the challenge.
A prop-firm challenge is a paid evaluation, not a brokerage balance of your own. If you only read the profit target, you miss half the contract. These pages are about the small type: drawdown, consistency, payouts, and who is actually selling you what.
The large number on the dashboard is easy to grasp. The moving floor underneath needs more attention. In the $50k futures example you pay $525, work with a nominal account size of $50,000, and at the start have $2,500 of room to the loss limit. Those are three different numbers — and none of them is a guarantee of profit.
Start with Evaluation if the setup is still unclear. Recalculate the drawdown before you compare programs. Read Payouts before you plan around a payment. Tax and legal questions you settle with qualified advice, not with a discount code. Guides written for traders in Germany are marked as such.
The calculators are teaching examples, not trading instructions. Industry rates have a source and a denominator; operator statements remain operator statements. I operate Iceberg Funding myself and disclose that conflict of interest. These pages help you ask questions — not buy blindly.
How an evaluation works
Tell 1-step, multi-phase, instant, and sim-to-live apart — with a $50k example, a quiz, and a documented industry funnel.
Read →Understanding drawdown types
Trailing, end-of-day trailing, and static drawdown explained — with a worked example.
Read →Payout rules
Consistency rules, minimum trading days, buffers, and payout cadence at prop firms.
Read →Data feed, execution, platform — and why MBO data matters
Three technical layers, CME MBP vs MBO, an interactive order book, and Bookmap with Rithmic or BookmapData — no signals.
Read →Taxes and trade registration in Germany
The questions to ask your tax advisor about prop-trading payouts.
Read →The 5 Mistakes
Five rule and planning mistakes with concrete teaching examples — no signals and no promises of success.
Read →Is prop trading legal in Germany?
Simulated assessments vs. brokers, a question catalog around BaFin — no legal advice.
Read →How do payouts from the US reach Germany?
Rise, Wise, crypto, wire — an overview of payout methods, KYC, and fees.
Read →How to review any prop firm
Checklist: rules, legal entity, payout methods, drawdown type, support, affiliate transparency.
Read →Passed is not paid
100 buyers → roughly 14 pass → roughly 7 receive a payout. Industry illustration, not Iceberg results.
buy an evaluation
pass the challenge (≈14%)
receive a payout (≈7% of all buyers)
An illustrative order of magnitude from reported FPFX data. Not internal Iceberg figures, and not a probability of success for you. Finance Magnates cites different rates from another survey; those are not mixed in here.
Source: TradeInformer / FPFX interview
A different survey — do not add them together: Finance Magnates reports for The Funded Trader 5–10% passing and about 20% of those paid out. That works out to about 1–2% of all buyers. Different data basis; no personal forecast of success.
Source: Finance Magnates · The Funded Trader