How prop firm payouts work: split, cycle, caps and the buffer

How do prop firm payouts work? Once you are funded, you request a payout on the firm's cycle; the request is checked, capped, then split, and your share is sent to you. Passing a challenge pays nothing on its own: money moves only when a funded account's request is approved.

Every firm's payout section is built from the same six parts, and the headline split is only one of them. Read all six before judging what an account is worth.

1. The profit split. The share of each approved payout you receive. The firm keeps the rest.
2. The cycle. How long after funding the first request opens, and how often you can request after that.
3. The eligibility conditions. What must be true at the moment you request: open positions closed, rules followed, a minimum profit, sometimes a consistency check.
4. The buffer. Profit that has to stay in the account and cannot be withdrawn, usually so the account keeps room above its loss limit.
5. The caps. A maximum per request, per account, or both, and what happens to profit above them.
6. The rail and review. How the money is sent (bank, card, stablecoin, native token), how long review takes, and what can stop a request.

A generous split with a low cap can pay less than a modest split with a high one. A fast cycle means little if eligibility requires conditions you rarely meet. The math only works when all six are read together.

Fullport publishes all six parts on the rules page. The split is 80% to you, and the first request opens 5 days after funding, then every 5 days.

The buffer is the starting size plus 4%. Caps are $1,000, $2,000 or $3,000 per request by account size, applied before the split, with three payouts per account. The rail is SOL on Solana, calculated in USD and converted when the transfer is sent.

Why isn't the first 4% of profit withdrawable?

Because of the buffer. On a $25,000 funded account the first $1,000 of profit is the cushion between the breakeven floor and the buffer, so profit only becomes payable above $26,000.

Does profit above the payout cap roll over?

No; the cap comes first. With $2,000 above the buffer, you can request $1,000. You receive $800, Fullport receives $200, and the balance returns to the buffer, so the next request starts from there.

1. 1

   Go flat

   Close every position and cancel pending orders. A Fullport payout can only be requested from a flat account that is above its withdrawal buffer and has followed every trading and conduct rule.

2. 2

   Submit the request

   Choose an amount up to the smaller of your profit above the buffer and your request cap. Trading pauses while the request is under review, so the balance cannot change mid-review.

3. 3

   Review

   The request is checked against the published eligibility and conduct rules, including markout screening and an on-chain review of the coins traded. Trading resumes if it is rejected or cancelled.

4. 4

   Payment

   Approved payouts are sent in SOL to the wallet on your profile. Changing the payout wallet starts a 72-hour cooldown that keeps payouts protected.

The five-day cycle decides when you can ask; once a request passes review, the SOL is sent to your wallet.

After the third payout the account completes; to keep trading you buy a new evaluation, and you can hold up to three accounts at once.

At reputable firms, yes: the trading account is simulated, but the payout is real money sent from the firm's own funds. The useful question is how a firm pays, and on what schedule.

Look for a payout schedule, a fixed split and per-request caps written into the rulebook before you buy, not explained after you pass.

How do you check a prop firm's payout terms?

Read the payout section of the rulebook: how often you can request, the split, the buffer and the cap per request. At Fullport all four are public: requests every 5 days, an 80% split, a buffer at start + 4%, and caps of $1,000, $2,000 or $3,000 per request by size, paid in SOL to your wallet.

If a firm pays in crypto, check which coin and network it uses, so the payout lands in a wallet you already use.

What gets a payout request approved?

Following the published rules. At Fullport the review checks that the account is flat and above its buffer, and that trading followed the conduct rules: trading coins on their merits rather than manipulating them, avoiding manufactured charts, and profit that comes from real price moves rather than latency gaps.

Whichever firm you choose, read the whole rulebook before paying and keep the version you bought under. Do prop firms use real money? covers where payout money comes from.

A payout from a prop firm is generally treated as income where you live rather than as a gain on an asset you owned, because the trading itself was simulated. Rules vary by country and this is not tax advice.

Keep a record of every payout and its dollar value at the time it arrived, since SOL payouts change dollar value after you receive them. The FAQ has Fullport's note on taxes.

The payout calculator runs the cap and buffer math for any balance. For the ceiling per account and the profit it takes to reach it, see how much funded traders make.

If you are comparing firms, Fullport's terms fit on one page: one-step evaluation, no daily drawdown, no time limit, memecoins that trade 24/7, an 80% split and every cap public on the rules page and pricing page.