Choosing a firm

Every firm on DecentralProp runs the same engine underneath, so choosing a firm is closer to choosing a storefront than choosing a broker. Here's what actually varies, and what to check before you buy.

What's identical everywhere

• The evaluation rulebook: profit target, drawdown limits, daily loss limits, minimum trading days. See Evaluations & the rulebook.
• The execution engine and fill fairness. See How trading works.
• How a payout is funded and the order it draws from. See Funded accounts & payouts.
• The audit and security posture, this is protocol-wide, not something one firm has and another doesn't. See Security & audit status.

None of these are a reason to pick one firm over another, they're the same regardless.

What actually differs

• Price. Each firm sets its own storefront price for each account size, inside a protocol-guided range.
• Profit split. The percentage you keep on a funded payout is set per firm, locked into your account at the moment you purchase.
• Leverage. Up to a 100x platform baseline; individual firms may offer less.
• Branding, storefront experience, and community. Marketing, look and feel, affiliate programs, social presence.

What to actually check before buying

• The firm's Trader Happiness ScoreTrader Happiness ScoreA public 0–100 score shown on every firm's storefront, computed from that firm's real trader outcomes rather than set by the firm itself.. A public 0–100 score shown on every firm's storefront, computed from real trader outcomes on that firm, not a marketing claim. Treat a materially low score as a real signal.
• The firm's current risk tierRisk tierA firm's current health classification under the ARE: Trusted, Standard, Strained, or Critical. Only ever tightens what new evaluations and payouts look like going forward, never retroactively.. Firms visibly sit in one of four health tiers (see The risk engine). A firm in a stressed tier isn't unsafe, your money is still protected the same way everywhere, but its payouts may be moving slower than a healthy firm's right now.
• The locked split and leverage at time of purchase. Read what you're shown before paying; it's what gets locked into your account rules for the life of that evaluation.
• How much of what a firm has paid out is provable. A payout total is a claim; a payout carrying an on-chain delivery signature is a receipt. Both numbers are published per firm, and the gap between them is worth looking at.

You can compare all of this side by side in the firm directory inside your dashboard, which ranks every firm on the protocol by proven payouts, solvency and payout speed, and publishes the weights it used. Your wallet hub covers what's on it.

A firm's price isn't a safety signal

A cheaper evaluation doesn't mean less protection, and a more expensive one doesn't buy you extra guarantees. The pass rules, the fill fairness, and the payout waterfallPayout waterfallThe ordered sequence a payout draws from: a firm's own treasury, its token reserve, its backstop pool, then the Universal Treasury Pool. are the same regardless of what a firm charges. Price and split are the only real cost/reward levers you're actually comparing.