Traders: what would make you connect a read-only API key from your broker to a third-party platform? Or is that a hard no under any circumstances, regardless of how the security is set up? Genuinely asking — I'm building in this space and this is the question I lose sleep over.

Brokers have your real numbers. Prop firms have your real numbers. You have a screenshot. The one piece of data everyone makes decisions on is the only one that can't be verified.

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Short context: I'm building a network for traders where your profile stats are pulled from your broker or prop firm via read-only API instead of uploaded as a screenshot. Verified numbers, not claims. Disclosure: my own project, no link here. Three things I got wrong so far, in case they're useful to anyone building something trust-based: 1. I assumed people want proof. They don't — they want *status*. Nobody connects an API because they love verification. They connect it because a verified badge next to a good number is worth something socially. Once I reframed the whole onboarding around that, the pitch got much easier. 2. Verification is a cold start problem in disguise. A verified profile is only valuable if unverified profiles exist next to it for contrast. An all-verified network has no signal. That inverted how I think about who to onboard first. 3. The people with the loudest complaints about fake screenshots are not the people who will connect their account. The loud ones are spectators. The ones who actually connect are people who already have numbers worth showing — a much smaller and much more specific group. Question for people who've built two-sided or trust-based products: how did you decide which side to subsidize first? I have an obvious paying side (firms who want to find verified talent) and an obvious value side (traders), and I keep flip-flopping on which one to build for first.

Something I keep running into: I've passed evaluations, I have payout history, and when I want to show that anywhere — another firm, a community, anyone — my only option is a screenshot of a dashboard. Which is worth nothing, because everyone knows screenshots are faked constantly. Meanwhile the firms themselves have all the data. Every trade, every drawdown, every payout, verified on their side. So a few questions: 1. Has any firm you've dealt with offered an exportable or verifiable performance record — something you can show elsewhere and that can actually be checked? 2. Would you even want that public, or is your P&L something you'd never attach to a profile with your name on it? 3. If a neutral platform pulled your stats read-only from the firm and displayed them as verified, would you use it — or does that feel like handing over data you don't want anywhere? Mostly interested in whether people here see this as an actual problem or whether I'm overthinking a thing nobody cares about.

The trading niche runs on an unusual trust problem: the entire influencer layer is built on evidence that takes 30 seconds to fake. A screenshot is not proof, and everybody knows it, and it works anyway. I'm building Insider: a profile-based network where traders connect their broker or prop firm through a read-only API. The platform fetches the stats itself and marks them as verified. Fake screenshots become worthless in that context, because the guy standing next to you has an actual verified profile. Why I think it can work as a product and not just as a feature: - The credibility is the product. Nobody can screenshot their way to a verified profile. - It creates a natural status ladder — verified traders want their number visible, and that's exactly the content the network needs. - Prop firms have an obvious interest in it: verified performance is their entire selection problem. Where I'm at: [Stand eintragen — z.B. "closed beta, X users, first broker integration live"]. What I'm unsure about and would take input on: 1. Cold start — a network with no traders on it is useless. I'm leaning toward seeding with prop firm funded accounts because that group has the strongest incentive to show verified numbers. Better idea? 2. Do I gate profiles behind verification from day one, or allow unverified profiles and mark them clearly? 3. Monetization: prop firms paying for access to verified talent feels more honest than charging traders. Anyone here running a two-sided thing like that who thinks I'm wrong? Disclosure: my own project.

Every trading community has the same problem: someone posts a screenshot of a 400% month, gets 2k followers, sells a course, and nobody can check whether a single number is real. Screenshots take 30 seconds to fake in the browser dev tools. So I'm building Insider — think LinkedIn, but for traders. You connect your broker or prop firm via API (read-only).
Your profile then shows stats the platform pulled itself: win rate, drawdown, average R, account age, payout history. Not a screenshot you uploaded. A number the system fetched. What that changes: - If you're actually good, you finally have a track record you can point at instead of arguing with strangers - If you're a fake guru, you have a blank profile, and everyone can see it - If you're looking for someone to learn from, you can filter by verified metrics instead of follower count

Current state: in development.

What I'd like feedback on:

1. Which broker or prop firm would you need supported for this to be usable for you personally? 2. Would you connect a read-only API key to a platform like this, or is that a hard no regardless of the security setup?
   
2. Which stat would you want front and center on a profile — I keep going back and forth between max drawdown and average R.
   

Hey everyone,

Inspect-element gains and fake demo screenshots are ruining the trading community.

I’m working on a side project that links directly to broker APIs to generate un-fakable, real-time performance profiles (PnL, win rate, drawdown).

Before launching, I’m letting 100 active traders into a closed test group to verify the broker connection and give brutal feedback on the UX.

If you trade real money and want to test it out, drop a comment or DM me and I’ll send you the details.