A funded trading account lets you trade futures with a firm’s capital instead of your own savings. You prove you can manage risk, the firm backs you, and you get paid from the profits you make.
It’s not a shortcut, and it’s not luck. It’s a clear path with rules at every step. Here’s how that path works at BluSky, from picking a plan to getting your first payout.
Step 1: Understand what “funded” means
At most futures prop firms, including BluSky, you don’t start with a live account. You start with an evaluation on a simulated account that tracks real market data. Pass it, and you move into a funded stage where your profits are real and you can withdraw them.
At BluSky, the path usually looks like this:
- Evaluation: hit a profit target while staying above your drawdown and inside the consistency rule.
- Buffer: a smaller target that builds a cushion before you’re paid.
- Sim Funded: no profit target. Your profits are real and you can request payouts.
- Brokerage: a live account for traders who keep performing.
Instant plans skip the evaluation entirely and start you in the funded stage on day one. The Evaluation Phases article has the full breakdown for every plan.
Step 2: Pick the plan that fits how you trade
BluSky has four ways in, and the right one depends on your pace and budget:
- Launch: pass in as little as 2 days. The lowest-cost way to get a BluSky account.
- Propel: pass in as little as 3 days.
- Orbit: pass in as little as 1 day.
- Instant: no evaluation. Get funded today.
Each plan comes in several account sizes, and some sizes use a static drawdown, a fixed floor that never moves as you make money. If you tend to give back part of a big morning, static is worth a close look.
You’ll also pick a platform at checkout. Tradovate is our preferred platform partner, and BluSky accounts are also available on other popular futures platforms.
Step 3: Pass the evaluation
The evaluation is where you show you can follow rules under pressure. The rules are simple to list and harder to follow:
- Reach the profit target.
- Stay above your drawdown the whole time.
- Keep any single day under the consistency cap.
- Stay within your max contract size.
The traders who pass aren’t the ones with the biggest days. They’re the ones who trade small, stop when they’ve hit their own daily limit, and stack several steady days. We wrote a full guide on this: How to pass a prop firm challenge.
Step 4: Build your buffer
After the evaluation, you’ll trade a Buffer phase with a smaller target. Think of it as the step that turns a passing trader into a funded one. It builds a cushion above your starting balance so a normal losing day doesn’t put your funded account at risk right away.
Step 5: Get paid in Sim Funded
Once you reach Sim Funded, there’s no profit target. Your job is to trade well and request payouts.
- Daily payouts. Requests made before 11AM ET on a trading day are processed the same day.
- $500 minimum. Payouts start at $500 across plans.
- 90% profit split. Traders keep 90% on evaluation-based plans. Instant plans carry a lower split.
- Two ways to get paid. Payouts are sent through Rise or Gusto.
Weekly caps and eligibility details vary by plan, so check the Payouts article for your account. BluSky traders have been paid more than $15 million to date.
Step 6: Move up to Brokerage
Traders who keep performing can move into a live brokerage account. The Ready for Brokerage section of our help center covers what to expect when you make that jump.
What it really takes
Getting funded comes down to three habits: knowing your rules, sizing for your drawdown, and staying consistent across days instead of chasing one big one. Do that in the evaluation and you won’t need to change anything once you’re paid.
Ready to get funded? Compare BluSky plans or join our Discord to see how other traders are doing it.