Making 0.5 btc a month is not impossible. it is possible and also not to hard. but as you said it need some good capital to give it a start. trading need some good money to start and earn. and also need lots of work and skills, but it is not a problem, if you want to earn money you should be ready for work also..
with a good signature campaign you can make a good capital for your work.
yes it will look very easy for users expert in trading, they can get even 0.5 in the week, and if it is added in other ways such as the signature campaign and mining it could get 1 BTC in 1 month, sure.