By now, we are all familiar with the trader funding business model, and hopefully, its historical pain points will soon be a thing of the past. The industry has experienced an explosive boom over the past few years, with firms offering funded trading accounts. However, beneath the surface of this expanding sector lies an inconvenient truth: most models rely on black-box infrastructure, fragile business logic, and opaque decision-making.

Despite all the innovation in trader onboarding and marketing, the core model remains fundamentally flawed. It asks users to place their trust in platforms they cannot independently verify. Evaluation rules and market conditions are enforced behind closed doors. Capital flows are hidden. Payout reliability varies. Risk management is largely invisible. This works until it doesn’t. And in a maturing industry facing increasing scrutiny, opacity becomes a liability, not a strength.

At carrotFunding.io, we believe the future of trader funding is decentralized. For us, this means building verifiable, tamper-resistant systems that function as promised, without requiring blind trust. Let’s take a side-by-side look at how on-chain infrastructure addresses the systemic flaws of traditional prop trading, redefines transparency, builds trust, and promotes long-term sustainability.

The table below illustrates the structural differences between legacy prop firms and carrotfunding.io’s on-chain model.

Legacy trader funding firms (TFFs) aren’t built for transparency. Their infrastructure depends on a complex ecosystem of stakeholders, each with their own interests. Most rely on white-label solutions and fintech platforms they don’t fully control. Operating on centralized capital and closed-source pricing infrastructure, these firms would need a full rebuild to adopt true transparency, something most aren’t ready for. That’s exactly where we’re taking a different approach at carrotFunding.io. Here’s how we do it differently:

I. Capital Transparency

Every evaluation fee is automatically split via smart contracts, with 50% directed to a publicly visible vault that backs trader payouts. By putting our capital and performance data on-chain, we’re moving beyond trust into proof.

II. Evaluation Integrity

In the legacy model, evaluation conditions are based on trust. TFFs often source their price feeds from retail brokers or, in rarer cases, through liquidity providers or aggregated feeds. Regardless of the source, these feeds are integrated into trading platforms with varying levels of administrative access, which can unintentionally or in some cases, intentionally open the door to misuse.

At carrotFunding.io, evaluations take place under real market conditions using data from DeFi protocols like Gains Network. This data is openly accessible to anyone and remains consistent, even after you reach the Carrot Funded Trader Account.

III. Risk Management and Execution Model

It’s legally unverifiable whether a TFF operates a proprietary trading desk behind the scenes, routes client orders to third parties, or hedges against winning traders or non-netted flow. This is a key reason why many, especially in institutional circles, might be skeptical of the modern "prop trading" claims.

IV. Payout Reliability

Payouts are executed on-chain, and funds are secured in on-chain vaults. Once you hit your profit targets and meet the conditions, payouts can be verified on-chain by publicly visible capital reserves. You can find full visibility into the wallets, smart contracts, and fund flows that power our protocol here.

V. Trading Pairs

Most traditional TFFs focus on forex or a narrow set of instruments due to legacy infrastructure constraints. At carrotfunding.io, we already support 200+ crypto pairs, but we’re just getting started. FX, commodities, and additional synthetic markets are on our roadmap to make carrotfunding.io the most comprehensive evaluation platform in the space. Whether you're trading crypto or FX, we aim to support it all in a transparent and decentralized way.

Transparency in technology is powerful, but equally important are the values that guide a platform. Ultimately, our mission is to empower the most promising traders by providing capital and trust. By adhering to transparency, we aim to give every trader a fair shot and a clear understanding of how the platform works.

For both newcomers and experienced traders, carrotfunding.io offers a chance to trade with confidence. You focus on your strategy and discipline, and we'll handle the rest in a way that's visible and accountable.

If you've felt the pain of opaque prop trading programs or you simply believe in the ethos of transparency, we invite you to become part of our journey, join our Discord community, and start your Carrot Evaluation journey.