Getting Started

1.1 What is The Desk?

The Desk is a place to trade real market capital, build a verifiable track record, and get paid for trading well. It is built for serious traders who want a straight path from "I can trade" to "I am paid to trade," without the multi-week evaluation gauntlet that most funded-trading programs put in the way.

Three ideas define The Desk:

You trade real markets, scored on quality. When you trade funded capital here, your reward is tied to how you make your profit, not just how much. Disciplined, well-managed trading earns a larger share of the profit; reckless, all-or-nothing trading earns less, even for the same dollar result.

Skill is rewarded, not challenge-passing. There is no pass/fail evaluation standing between you and a live account. You start building your standing from the first trade, and you can earn real, withdrawable money right away through Daily Funded Sessions and Trading Rooms.

You climb. As you trade, you build your Rating, qualify for higher membership tiers, and unlock larger funded accounts with consistent, withdrawable monthly payouts. The ladder runs from a free $10,000 starter account up through funded tiers to as much as $5M-$10M in capital at the top.

Who it's for: traders who want to be measured fairly, paid for skill, and given room to grow. Who it isn't for: anyone looking to gamble a single oversized bet , the scoring is specifically designed so that approach earns the least.

1.2 How The Desk is different from prop firms and challenge accounts

Most funded-trading offers follow the same script: pay a fee, trade to a strict set of targets and rules for weeks or months, and maybe pass. Industry pass rates sit around 10-15%. Even traders who pass often find that the funded stage feels completely different from the evaluation, and many fail again there.

The Desk takes a different path:

No evaluation gate. You don't have to pass a challenge before you can earn. Your free account lets you start immediately , building your Rating and, when you choose, earning real money through Sessions and Rooms.

Quality-scored payouts instead of pass/fail. Rather than a binary "you passed / you blew the account," The Desk measures the quality of your trading and pays you a share of your profit accordingly. Good process is rewarded continuously.

"Unlimited drawdown," properly understood. The Desk does not end your run the instant you touch an arbitrary daily-loss line. Instead, drawdown is one of the quality signals that shapes your payout share. This removes the constant fear of a single bad tick ending everything, while still strongly rewarding traders who control their risk. (Drawdown is the single hardest line in the scoring , see 2.4.)

A real ladder. Prop firms often stop at a fixed account size. The Desk is built as a progression: build your Rating, move up tiers, and scale your funded capital over time.

1.3 Creating your account and the Open tier

Joining The Desk is free. When you sign up, you land on the Open tier , the entry level of membership , and you immediately receive a free $10,000 qualification account.

What the free $10,000 account is: it is your test-drive account. It is a real trading account on real markets, and it does two important jobs:

1. It lets you start building your Rating right away. Every trade you make

contributes to your track record from day one.

1. It is the account you use to earn, by paying to put it to work , either by

starting a Daily Funded Session or by entering Trading Rooms (both explained below).

What the free $10,000 account is NOT: it is not a funded account on its own, and its profit-and-loss (PnL) is not withdrawable. You cannot trade the free account by itself and cash out the profit. Think of it as your training ground and your launchpad , the place you build standing and from which you launch paid, withdrawable opportunities.

So how do you actually earn on the Open tier? Two ways, both using that free $10,000 account:

• Pay for a Daily Funded Session ($29.95) , this turns your $10,000 account into

a fully funded account for 24 hours, and your profit during that window is withdrawable (your share is paid to your Wallet). See Section 3.

• Enter a Trading Room (from $7) , compete in a timed contest for a prize pool;

winnings are withdrawable and auto-deposited to your Wallet. See Section 4.

To earn consistent, ongoing withdrawable payouts (rather than per-session or per-Room), you upgrade to a funded tier , Junior and above , covered in Section 5.

Before you trade: you'll sign your trading Agreement (a one-minute step in your dashboard). This is required before placing your first order.

1.4 Your first 15 minutes: a guided path

A simple path to get oriented and take your first action.

1. Log in and find your account. From your dashboard you'll see your free $10,000 qualification account, your Wallet, and your Rating.

2. Sign your Agreement. If you haven't yet, you'll be prompted. One minute.

3. Open the Terminal and place a practice trade. Use your free account to get comfortable , find a symbol, read the chart, place an order, and close it. Nothing here is withdrawable, so it's a safe place to learn the platform. (See Section 7 for the full Terminal walkthrough.)

4. Choose your first real opportunity. When you're ready to earn: - Want a full day of fully funded trading? Start a Daily Funded Session (Section 3). - Want a short, competitive burst? Enter a Trading Room (Section 4). - Want to focus on climbing? Just keep trading to build your Rating toward the next tier (Section 5).

5. Link your Discord. The community, announcements, and giveaway draws run through Discord , linking it is also how you become eligible for member perks (Section 7.4).

1.5 Key terms at a glance

A quick map. Each links to the full explanation.

• Open tier , the free entry level of membership. Comes with the free $10,000

qualification account. (2.1)

• Qualification account , your free $10,000 test-drive account. Builds your

Rating; its PnL is not withdrawable on its own. (1.3, 2.3)

• Rating , your progression score. It unlocks membership tiers. (2.2)
• Quality Score , the 23-metric Meritix score that sets your **monthly

profit share** on funded tiers. (2.4, 2.5)

• Snap Quality Score , the 8-metric score that sets your profit share on a

Daily Funded Session. (2.4, 3.4)

• Daily Funded Session , pay to make your $10,000 account fully funded for 24

hours; profit share is withdrawable. (Section 3)

• Trading Room , a timed contest on the Floor with a prize pool; entry from $7.

(Section 4)

• The Floor , where Rooms happen , the competitive arena. (Section 4)
• Meritix , the scoring engine behind your Rating and your Quality Score.

(2.5)

• Funded tier , Junior and above: a fully funded account with consistent,

withdrawable monthly payouts. (Section 5)

• Capital cycle , the monthly period over which a funded tier's performance is

measured and settled. (5.3)

• Wallet , where your money lives , withdrawable cash and non-withdrawable Desk

Credit. (Section 6)

• Drawdown , how far your equity falls from its peak; the hardest line in the

quality scoring. (2.4)