Inside Halcyon Trader Funding: Steven A. Kubik On Live Accounts, Trader Development, And The Problems With Modern Prop Firms

“If A Trader Proves Themselves, They Should Have Access To Live Capital”

The prop firm industry has exploded over the last few years.

But according to Steven A. Kubik, one of the biggest problems is that many firms have drifted away from what prop trading was originally supposed to be.

When Ryan and Ross from Prop Firms Compared sat down with Steven, CEO of Halcyon Trader Funding, the conversation quickly centred around one topic: live accounts.

“There was no direct way to go to a live account for traders,” Steven explained. “It seemed like there were lots of hurdles or restrictions. If a trader can achieve consistent success, they should have a route to be in a live account with backing from the firm.”

For Steven, that idea sits at the centre of what a prop firm should actually be.

“That is the true meaning of a prop firm,” he said. “Prove yourself and be backed by capital.”

Founded in 2024 and based in the USA, Halcyon Trader Funding was built around Steven’s own experience as a futures trader. Before launching the firm, he had already spent almost two decades trading futures markets himself and using prop firms as a way to access larger amounts of capital.

“I felt I could offer a system that helped move traders into live accounts versus just removing them from the firm after a certain number of payouts,” he told us.

That frustration with the wider industry became one of the driving forces behind Halcyon’s approach.

“There seems to be a broken system from moving traders to live,” Steven said. “And then also if a trader hits a rough patch in live, how can a firm help them get more training, refocus, and go back to live?”

One of the internal features he’s most proud of is Halcyon’s trader live training programme, which was designed to give traders a route back after struggling in live environments.

“No other firm had a programme traders could go to if they failed in their live account until we came along,” Steven explained. “Now you see a few firms have a route to retrain traders and get them back to live.”

Throughout the conversation, Steven repeatedly returned to one core idea: traders are different.

Rather than trying to force every trader into the same structure, he believes firms should build systems that allow flexibility.

“We let traders be traders,” he said. “Traders are all different, so we tried to design a system that allows traders to be different.”

That philosophy also shapes how Halcyon approaches funded traders long term.

“We don’t want to put traders in a box,” Steven said. “You can have two traders with two different styles that achieve the same results at the end of the day.”

One of the more interesting parts of the conversation came when Ryan asked Steven about payout structures and what traders often overlook when comparing firms.

Steven believes many traders focus on headline marketing claims without understanding the mechanics underneath them.

“When looking at days to payout in the sim system across other firms, five days sounds great until you realise those five days have to have a certain dollar value of profit for the day to count,” he explained.

“I think a lot of traders miss that key point.”

At Halcyon, payout days are simply trading days without minimum daily profit requirements attached.

Steven then posed the question traders should ask themselves before chasing aggressive payout targets:

“Can they really have five or seven or even fourteen profitable days in a row? Or is it easier to just trade their system for six or eight days regardless of profit or loss?”

As Ross pointed out during the interview, many traders fail challenges not because they lack a strategy, but because they rush.

Steven agreed immediately.

“We encourage traders to take it slow,” he said. “We do not have rebilling at our firm, so just take it slow and stop rushing.”

He also believes traders consistently underestimate the damage caused by oversizing positions.

“We try to tell traders not to size up too much. Define the risk and be OK with taking a loss for the day. The market is there tomorrow. Don’t lose the account today.”

That same point came up again later when Ryan asked what successful funded traders tend to have in common.

“Slowing down,” Steven answered.

And the biggest mistake new traders make?

“Too much size.”

Trust and transparency were another major part of the discussion, particularly in an industry where traders are often sceptical of firms.

Steven believes communication matters more than polished branding.

“We openly communicate with all traders via support, Discord, social media, live streaming trades,” he said. “I prefer to be a trader with our traders.”

When asked what traders should actually look for before purchasing from a prop firm, Steven’s answer was simple: go into the community.

“Go into Discord and ask questions and get real feedback,” he said. “If you cannot openly communicate, then leave.”

One thing Steven was also keen to emphasise was that, despite the criticism prop firms often receive online, he believes the industry provides genuine opportunity for many traders who otherwise would never access meaningful trading capital.

“To combat the stigma that seems to surround the industry that prop firms are not good for traders,” he said, reflecting on one of the hardest parts of launching the business. “Really they offer people who don’t have the money to put 10K into a brokerage a means to access capital.”

As the conversation moved towards the future of the industry, Steven said he expects exchanges and market structure to shape the next phase of prop trading more than regulation itself.

“There have been many talks of regulation,” he explained. “But what I do see is the exchanges having a classification for prop firm traders which may increase costs via different data charges.”

Still, despite the rapid growth of the industry and increasing competition between firms, Steven believes the space would benefit from less negativity overall.

“There is no reason to bring negativity into it,” he said. “We all have something to offer to a specific trader. No firm is a one-fit-every-trader type of firm.”

As the interview wrapped up, Ryan asked Steven for one final piece of advice for traders starting a prop firm challenge today.

His answer reflected almost everything discussed throughout the conversation.

“Take a breath,” he said. “Slow down and accept the challenge takes however long it takes for you individually.”

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