PROP TRADING

How to start a prop firm in 2025 – all the things you need to know

Over the past three years, Proprietary Trading (Prop Trading) has evolved, gaining new significance among traders and brokers alike. Gone are the days of traditional Prop Trading firms confined within their physical boundaries.

LPublished Updated 3 min read
Leverate blog cover for the guide on how to start a prop firm in 2025

Leverate banner introducing a guide to opening a proprietary trading firm: licensing, costs and technology

In today’s financial landscape, there’s a growing interest in trading across various assets, from forex and stocks to cryptocurrencies and indices.

Alongside this surge, proprietary trading has gained huge momentum and has a growing demand, prompting a range of entities, from financial institutions to hedge funds, that want to establish their own prop firms.

But before diving into this venture, it’s crucial to address numerous considerations and questions. By the end of this discussion, you’ll have a clear understanding of what prop firms entail, why the regulation in so simple, the steps to launch one, and the potential benefits that our all-in-one prop trading platform has to your business.

What is a Proprietary Trading Firm?

A proprietary trading firm, often referred to as a “prop firm,” operates by utilizing its own capital to participate in financial markets. These companies specialize in various forms of active trading, including high-frequency trading, with the goal of capitalizing on rapid market movements to generate profits.

Unlike traditional investment firms, prop firms do not handle client funds. Instead, they focus solely on trading their own capital and retain a percentage of the profits generated from successful trades by revenue share.

To become a trader at a prop firm, the firm will typically conduct some auditions during the trader selection process. Proprietary trading firms only choose traders who are highly skilled, and the own’s that passed their challenges by the roles the prop firm choose like maximum daily loss, profit targets by day, Max Overall loss and more.

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Do proprietary trading firms need a license?

Prop trading firms are less heavily regulated than regular brokerages and broker-dealers.
However, it depends on the way the prof firm choose to open their business. If them choose to open a firm only with trader challenges, there’s no license needed. But, if they add a funded accounts to their traders, they will need a broker license.

How much does it cost to set up a prop firm?

It depends on the location and your target market. However, the business model of prop trading accounts.

Most prop trading firms provide access to real funds only after carefully evaluating their traders’ abilities, and traders usually must pay an audition fee before entering the real trading process.
In some cases, proprietary trading firms provide access to live trading for a certain fee, but the funds provided aren’t substantial, and monitored trading metrics are strict.

Learn more about starting a prop firm

How do I open my prop firm?

When establishing a proprietary trading firm, you face the decision of developing your technology, which can be both costly and time-intensive, or opting for white-label technology solutions like Leverate’s prop firm platform, which is a ready-made and licensed software product that you can customize and rebrand.


We at Leverate, built a top-notch turnkey solution for prop firm to their kickstart, that contains all what new prop firm need:

Trading Platform

Our trading platform has a super-friendly interface with one-click execution, an intuitive dashboard, and easy access to advanced indicators and chart analysis.

All the features are available on Mobile, Web, and Desktop with a seamless trading.

CRM:

The backbone of a Prop firm is a powerful CRM. Our CRM is specifically designed for the needs of your Prop firm. The multiple dashboards with full customization, custom reports and tailor-made interfaces allow you to get all the info you need on one page.

Back-End Office

The admin dashboard is designed to present a unified view, intuitive controls, and swift decision-making tools on real-time data.

Security & Encryption

We know how important and sensitive data is. Hence, we emphasize security, ensuring the most secure environment for your clients’ database., ensuring you can focus on developing other aspects of your prop firm.

Risk Management

With our extensive 15 years of experience in the FX industry, we possess a unique advantage in managing risk with precision and finesse.

Broker Integration & Liquidity

Leverate’s software aggregates liquidity from top financial institutions to provide competitive rates and the lowest spreads. Our Tech Team will make a secure and quick integration to any brokerage you need.

Customer Support

We offer round-the-clock, multilingual tech support services to ensure you receive comprehensive assistance whenever needed.

In conclusion, like any other brokerage endeavor, launching a prop firm demands meticulous planning, extensive research, and strict compliance with local regulations. With the appropriate strategy, technology, and risk management plan in place, a prop trading firm stands poised to flourish in today’s market environment.

To streamline the process and access essential tools and integrations affordably, consider a white-label prop trading platform that will lead your firm to success and to reach their goals quickly and efficiently.

If you thought about establishing your prop firm, don’t hesitate and contact us to start your journey as a top-notch prop firm with us.

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L

Written by

Leverate Marketing

Brokerage technology team

The Leverate team builds trading platform, CRM, client portal and liquidity technology for brokers and prop firms worldwide.

Frequently asked questions

What is a proprietary trading firm?

A proprietary trading firm, or prop firm, uses its own capital to trade in financial markets, often through active strategies such as high-frequency trading. Unlike traditional investment firms, prop firms do not handle client funds. They retain a percentage of the profits generated by successful traders through revenue share.

Do you need a license to start a prop firm?

It depends on the business model. A prop firm that offers only trader challenges does not need a license. If the firm also provides funded accounts to its traders, it needs a broker license.

How much does it cost to set up a prop firm?

The cost depends on the firm's location and target market. Most prop firms give traders access to real funds only after evaluating their abilities, and traders usually pay an audition fee before entering real trading. Using white-label technology instead of building in-house helps keep setup costs and time down.

How do prop firms select their traders?

Prop firms typically run auditions, or challenges, during trader selection. Only highly skilled traders who pass the challenge rules are chosen, with rules such as maximum daily loss, profit targets and maximum overall loss.

Should a new prop firm build its own technology or use a white-label platform?

Building proprietary technology can be both costly and time-intensive. A white-label solution such as Leverate's prop firm platform is ready-made, licensed software that can be customized and rebranded. It provides a trading platform, CRM, back-end office, risk management, liquidity and broker integration in one package.

Scale your brokerage today!

CRM & Client Portal, Trading Platform, MT4 & MT5 - All built for you.

Scale Now