Copy trading may be less about returns and more about incentive alignment

I usually see copy trading discussed as a performance question. Does the trader make money? What is the return? What is the win rate?

But I think the bigger issue is incentive alignment.

If someone is being copied by many users, what are they actually incentivized to do? Preserve capital carefully? Take higher risk to stay on top of rankings? Keep drawdown low? Show attractive short-term returns?

That matters because copy trading turns one person’s risk behavior into a product for many others.

In a good system, followers should care about long-term consistency, drawdown control, risk-adjusted return, and transparency. In a bad system, everyone just chases the prettiest equity curve.

So maybe the real question is: how should copy trading platforms rank traders in a way that does not reward hidden risk?