Let me kill the biggest excuse I hear: "I don't have enough money to trade."

Wrong.

You have zero excuses in 2026. None. The barriers that existed ten years ago are gone. You can start with literally nothing, prove yourself, and get funded. Or you can start with a few hundred bucks on a real exchange. The path exists. The question is whether you'll walk it.

Option 1: Paper Trading (Zero Dollars)

Before you risk a single cent, you should be profitable on paper. If you can't make money with fake money, you definitely can't make it with real money.

TradingView Paper Trading

This is where everyone should start. TradingView has a built-in paper trading simulator that connects to live market data. You get:

• Real-time crypto prices
• Simulated order execution
• P&L tracking
• The exact same charts you'll use when trading real money

Set it up with $100k simulated capital. Trade your system for 30-60 days. Track every trade. Calculate your win rate, average R-multiple, and profit factor.

If you're not profitable after 100 paper trades, you don't have an edge yet. Keep refining. The market will still be there when you're ready.

Why Paper Trading Matters

I know what you're thinking: "Paper trading isn't real. There's no emotion."

You're right. But paper trading isn't about emotion—it's about pattern recognition. You need reps. Hundreds of them. You need to see your setup play out over and over until you recognize it instantly. You can't buy that experience. You have to earn it.

Paper trade until you're bored of being profitable. Then consider real money.

Option 2: Prop Firm Funding (Under $500 to Start)

This is the path I'm on. Prop firms give you their capital to trade. You keep a percentage of profits. They take the risk of the capital—you just have to prove you can trade.

Here's how it works: you pay for an evaluation (usually $100-$500), prove you can hit profit targets without blowing risk limits, and they fund you with $25k-$200k+ of their money.

The Major Players

Breakout Prop — My current evaluation. Crypto-focused. $100k account, 5x leverage available. Hit +$5,000 in Step 1, +$10,000 in Step 2, and you're funded. Evaluation costs vary by account size.

Trade The Pool — Stock and crypto options. Different structure but same concept—prove yourself, get funded.

FTMO — The OG of prop firms. Primarily forex and indices, but solid reputation. $10k-$200k accounts available.

Apex Trader Funding — Futures-focused. Frequent promotions on evaluation fees. Popular with ES and NQ traders.

The Math That Changed My Perspective

Think about this: a $200 evaluation fee for a shot at a $100k funded account.

If you blow the eval, you're out $200. If you pass, you're trading six figures of someone else's money and keeping 80-90% of profits.

Compare that to saving $100k of your own money to trade. At a 10% savings rate on a $50k salary, that's 20 years. The prop firm path shortcuts decades.

The Catch

You have to actually be profitable. These aren't free money machines. Most people fail evaluations—some stats suggest 80-90% failure rates.

But here's the thing: if you can't pass an evaluation with clear rules and reasonable targets, you shouldn't be trading real money anyway. The evaluation is a filter. It protects you from yourself.

Option 3: Small Account Trading (Under $1,000)

Maybe you want skin in the game but don't want to go the prop firm route. Totally valid. You can open a real crypto account with a few hundred dollars.

Coinbase

The most beginner-friendly option. No minimum deposit. Simple interface. Higher fees than other exchanges, but you're paying for simplicity. Start here if you've never bought crypto before.

Kraken

Lower fees than Coinbase. More trading pairs. Solid reputation and security. You can fund with as little as $10, though I'd recommend at least $200-500 to have meaningful position sizes.

Other Options

Binance.US, Crypto.com, Gemini—all legitimate exchanges where you can start small. Do your own research on fees and available pairs for your region.

The Small Account Reality

Trading a $500 account won't make you rich. Let's be honest about the math:

• 10% monthly return (which is exceptional) = $50/month
• That's not quitting your job money

But that's not the point. A small account teaches you:

• Real emotions when real money is at risk
• Actual execution and slippage
• The discipline of following your system when it matters
• Whether you actually have an edge

Think of it as tuition. You're paying to learn. A $500 account that you blow teaches you more than a $50,000 account you're too scared to trade.

The Progression Path

Here's how I'd structure the journey if I was starting from zero today:

Months 1-3: Paper Trading

• Set up TradingView with simulated $100k
• Trade your system daily
• Log every single trade
• Goal: 100+ trades, positive expectancy

Months 4-6: Small Real Account

• Fund Coinbase or Kraken with $300-500
• Trade micro positions (risk $5-15 per trade)
• Feel real emotions with real money
• Goal: Don't blow the account, stay disciplined

Months 7-12: Prop Firm Evaluations

• Take your first evaluation ($100-300)
• Apply everything you learned
• If you fail, analyze why and try again
• Goal: Pass evaluation, get funded

Year 2+: Scale

• Trade funded account professionally
• Potentially run multiple funded accounts
• Compound small real account on the side
• Goal: Replace your income

Why This Path Works

The traditional path to trading was: save money for years, risk your savings, probably blow up, repeat until broke or successful.

The new path is: prove yourself with fake money, prove yourself with other people's money, then scale with real profits.

You're not risking your family's security. You're not betting your savings. You're demonstrating skill first, then getting rewarded for it.

That's a career path. That's a business model. That's how professionals approach this.

The Excuses Are Dead

"I don't have money" — Paper trade on TradingView for free.

"I can't afford to lose" — Trade a prop firm evaluation for $200.

"The minimum account sizes are too high" — Open Coinbase with $100.

"I need to learn first" — You learn by doing, and you can do it for free.

The obstacles aren't external anymore. They're internal. The only thing stopping you is you.

What I'd Tell Myself Starting Out

Start with paper trading. Take it seriously even though it's fake money. Track everything. Find your edge before you risk anything.

Then take a prop firm evaluation. If you fail, good—you learned something. If you pass, you just skipped years of saving.

Keep a small real account on the side for the emotional reps. Blow it up once or twice. Learn what fear and greed actually feel like in your body.

Don't rush. The market is open every single day. It's not going anywhere. But your capital—whether real or funded—is finite. Protect it.

The path is there. Walk it.

Trading involves substantial risk. Prop firm evaluations involve fees with no guarantee of funding. Only trade with money you can afford to lose. This is my personal experience, not financial advice.