A prop firm provides trading capital to traders who pass a paid evaluation with a profit target, a daily loss limit and a maximum drawdown rule. For gold traders the profit target is rarely the binding constraint; the daily loss limit is, because sizing a position around a volatile ATR-based XAUUSD stop means two or three losses in one session can breach a five percent daily threshold.
The type of drawdown matters as much as its size, since a trailing drawdown follows peak equity upward and tightens after a strong gold run, while a static one is measured from the starting balance. Many firms also restrict trading around CPI, non-farm payrolls and FOMC, which removes several of the largest gold moves, so risk per trade should be derived backwards from the rules rather than chosen first.