Something is changing in retail trading: established brokers are moving into prop trading.
Brokers with years of market experience, large client bases, liquidity relationships, and existing infrastructure are launching their own trader funding programmes. Axi, for example, launched Axi Select, while OANDA introduced OANDA Prop Trader in 2024.
The model is simple. A broker adds a prop trading programme alongside its major brokerage business, which gives traders a separate path to funded trading while drawing on the broker’s existing capabilities.
Why are established brokers making this move? What does the model offer them, where does it create challenges, and what does it mean for independent prop firms?
This guide breaks down the rise of broker-backed prop firms, the strategy around it, and what operators should learn from it.
What a Broker-Backed Prop Firm Is
The model is an evaluation business owned by or affiliated with a licensed brokerage. Traders purchase evaluations, trade simulated accounts under defined rules, and receive a share of simulated profits after passing.
What separates the arrangement from an independent firm is what sits underneath.
Execution quality, pricing, platform access, and in some cases the legal entity itself are inherited from the broker.
Three structures are seen in practice:
- Fully owned: The prop firm is a subsidiary of the broker, sharing infrastructure and frequently staff. Branding may be separate, though ownership is common.
- Affiliated: The prop firm operates independently while its execution and liquidity are supplied by a partner broker. Commercial terms are negotiated between two businesses.
- Broker-launched white label: The broker licenses white label prop firm infrastructure from a technology provider and deploys it under its own brand. This allows the broker to launch a prop firm alongside its existing brokerage without building the technology stack internally. Check out our recent guide on the true cost of building and buying a prop firm tech stack.
The third route has become the default for brokers entering now, as the technology question is removed entirely and launch timelines are measured in days.
Which Brokers Have Already Entered Prop Trading?
The broker-backed model is no longer theoretical. Several established brokers have launched prop or funded-trader programmes, while others have since changed or exited their offerings.
The examples are not identical.
- FXIFY and Atmos explicitly market their broker relationships as part of their proposition.
- Axi Select is structured more directly as a capital allocation programme within the broker's existing ecosystem.
- OANDA provides a useful counterexample: broker-backed prop trading is not automatically a permanent addition to a brokerage's business model.
The opportunity is far from putting a prop brand next to a brokerage. Can the broker make the economics, technology, risk and crisis controls, compliance structure, and trader acquisition model work together? Check out our guide on prop firms' risk controls and crisis management.
For independent operators, that is where the competitive pressure becomes more interesting. Choosing the right broker now becomes very important.
Why Brokers Are Making This Move
The appeal is not difficult to understand. A funded trading programme can create another revenue stream while making better use of assets the brokerage already has.
1. Customer acquisition is getting harder
Winning new traders through paid advertising, affiliates, and other channels can be expensive. A prop programme gives brokers another way to monetise trading interest. Instead of asking every prospect to open and fund a live account, the broker can offer a lower-friction path into its ecosystem.
2. The trader base is already there
This is one of the biggest advantages. A broker already has a database of traders who understand its brand, platforms, and markets. A funded programme can be promoted directly to that audience rather than building demand from zero. Axi Select is a perfect example of the model clearly: traders must first open and trade an Axi live account before progressing through its capital allocation programme.
3. Much of the infrastructure already exists
The broker already has trading platforms, liquidity relationships, payment systems, compliance processes, technology, and support teams. A prop programme can build on that existing foundation instead of requiring an entirely separate operation.
4. Trust becomes part of the proposition
The prop industry has faced scrutiny over closures, rule changes, and payout disputes. A recognised brokerage entering the market can use its existing reputation to reduce some of the trust barrier facing newer operators. For instance, Axi positions Axi Select around the advantages of its established brokerage infrastructure.
5. Prop firms vs brokers line is closer
The difference between prop firms vs brokers is becoming less clear. Brokers are adding funded programmes, while prop firms increasingly offer platforms, analytics, payment systems, and trading infrastructure.
- For brokers, the opportunity is to capture more value from the same trader.
- For independent prop firms, it means competing against businesses that may already own the technology, customers, and market infrastructure needed to enter the space.
What Brokers Already Own, Compared With What Prop Firms Must Buy
The structural advantage becomes clearer when the two starting positions are laid side by side.
Factors Brokers Need to Consider Before Launching a Prop Firm
The commercial case may be strong, but all broker-backed prop firms still need to be built around a different operating model. Several factors below should be considered before launch:
- The operating model needs its own infrastructure: A brokerage CRM is built around live accounts, deposits, execution, margin, and trading activity. Prop operations must also manage evaluations, challenge stages, drawdown rules, breaches, resets, funded accounts, and payouts. A dedicated prop technology layer is therefore often needed alongside the brokerage stack.
- Prop firms vs brokers' risk management is different: Brokers primarily monitor exposure, margin, and live positions. Prop firms also need to identify rule breaches, coordinated trading, copy trading, and other behaviour across accounts. The risk engine must reflect those additional requirements.
- Regulatory positioning must remain clear: A broker licence does not automatically make the prop programme itself regulated. The structure, customer journey, execution model, contracting entity, and jurisdiction all matter. Marketing and terms should clearly distinguish simulated evaluations from brokerage services.
- Brand architecture needs a deliberate choice: A separate prop brand can protect the brokerage's reputation while creating a distinct proposition. Using the broker's name can transfer existing trust more directly. The right approach depends on the intended positioning and legal structure.
- Support needs to be redesigned: Prop traders ask about evaluations, drawdowns, breaches, progression, and payouts (not only deposits, execution, and margin). The support operation needs the processes, training, and tools to handle those questions at scale.
Launch a Prop Firm Without Rebuilding Your Tech Stack
Every quarter spent deciding is a quarter another broker can spend turning its existing client base into evaluation revenue. The opportunity is not only to acquire new traders, but to monetise demand already sitting inside the database.
Trade Tech Solutions gives brokers the infrastructure to add a prop trading operation without rebuilding their technology stack from scratch. Our dedicated prop firm CRM connects onboarding, KYC/AML, trader management, communications, evaluations, payments, payouts, and reporting in one system.
Based on demand, the platform can be configured for forex, crypto, futures, sports, and prediction markets. Our infrastructure currently supports 85+ firms and 180+ regions.
For a broker considering the move, technology support is no longer a hurdle. Schedule a meeting with the Trade Tech Solutions technical team to map the existing brokerage stack, target markets, platforms, payment providers, and evaluation model. Our experts will also determine exactly what it would take to launch.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can an existing brokerage keep its current trading platforms when adding an evaluation business?
Yes. Trade Tech Solutions (TTS) supports major platforms including MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradeLocker, MatchTrader, DXtrade, Volumetrica, Tradovate, NinjaTrader, Rithmic, Quantower, and ATAS. Existing platform relationships can therefore remain part of the setup rather than being replaced.
How are the two businesses kept separate inside the same system?
Role-based permissions allow different teams to control different areas of the platform. This lets brokerage and prop operations share infrastructure while maintaining appropriate access controls. TTS also uses encrypted data handling and secure APIs.
Is the technology provider visible to traders?
No, it is built as a white label prop firm. This allows dashboards, interfaces, workflows, and other customer-facing elements to carry the operator’s branding. The technology can remain behind the scenes.
Can a broker start small and expand later?
Yes. TTS describes its architecture as modular, allowing firms to configure the technology around their requirements and scale as trader volume grows.
How quickly can challenge conditions be changed?
Standard evaluation settings such as profit targets, drawdown limits, and payout structures are configurable. This allows operations teams to adjust supported parameters without rebuilding the entire platform.
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