For a US trader choosing a futures prop firm, three things decide the outcome and only one of them is advertised. This page covers eligibility, the loss limit and the payout conditions, in the order that actually matters rather than the order the landing pages present them.
Eligibility, which is quick to check and easy to assume
Firms publish their own eligibility terms, and they are not identical. Some exclude particular jurisdictions, some require identity verification before a first payout rather than at sign-up, and some restrict the number of accounts a single person may hold. None of this is usually on the pricing page. It is in the terms document, and finding out at the payout stage that a condition was not met is the expensive way to learn it.
The loss limit, which decides whether there is a payout at all
A trailing limit follows your account's high water mark upward and at some firms follows unrealised profit, so a winner that retraces narrows the account permanently. An end-of-day limit moves once, at the close, on realised profit. Take Profit Trader and Tradeify publish end-of-day; OneUp Trader publishes trailing; Bulenox and TradeDay publish both and make you choose. This is the single largest difference between otherwise identical-looking offers.
The payout conditions, which decide when you see money
Cadence is published loudly: three firms in this index publish daily payouts and Earn2Trade publishes weekly withdrawals from $100 upward. Eligibility for a first payout is published quietly, in minimum trading days and consistency rules. Earn2Trade states no additional performance targets are required to withdraw, which is worth noting precisely because it is not standard across this market.
Questions people ask about prop firms for us traders
Do I need to be a US resident?
Firms publish their own eligibility terms. This site covers firms serving US futures traders and does not carry offers into the markets its compliance position blocks.
Which firm is best for a US trader?
This site does not rank. Choose on the drawdown shape that fits how you hold trades, then compare price and payout conditions.
Are payouts taxable?
This site gives no tax advice. Payouts are income and how they are treated depends on your circumstances; ask a qualified adviser.