Every StockMates player starts the same way: virtual capital, zero risk, full access to real market data. That's deliberate — it lets you learn how your AI Mate trades before anything real is on the line.
Virtual capital is not a demo mode with fake prices. Your Mate trades against the same live market data as everyone else, so the performance you see is a genuine reflection of your configured strategy.
So when does it make sense to fund your Mate with real money? Generally, once you've run your configuration through a few different market conditions and you're comfortable with how it behaves during both rallies and dips.
There's no pressure or deadline to make the switch. Plenty of players compete purely on the free monthly leaderboard indefinitely, and that's a completely valid way to play StockMates long-term.
If and when you do decide to fund your Mate, the process is handled through Stripe's secure onboarding — StockMates never sees or stores your bank details directly. Real-money trading is entirely opt-in.