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Spot trading is the simplest way to take a position on a prediction market. You buy shares that represent a probability — each share is worth between 0and0 and 1, settling to exactly 1ifyouroutcomeiscorrect,or1 if your outcome is correct, or 0 if it isn’t. Spot markets on Theta Labs come from Polymarket, and trades are funded by your pUSD balance.

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How spot trading works

Every market has two sides: YES and NO. The price of a share reflects the crowd’s implied probability of that outcome occurring.
  • A YES share priced at 40¢ implies a 40% probability the event happens
  • A NO share priced at 60¢ implies a 60% probability the event does not happen
  • YES and NO prices are complementary — together they sum to approximately $1.00 (live bid/ask spreads mean the two displayed prices may not add up exactly)
When a market resolves, every winning share pays out 1.00∗∗andeverylosingsharepaysout∗∗1.00** and every losing share pays out **0.00.

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Finding a market

Browse the Spot page, or search two ways:
  • The search box in the top navigation (“Search markets…”) filters the market grid by keyword.
  • Press Ctrl/⌘ + K to open the command palette and jump straight to any market.
See Spot Markets for the full guide to browsing, categories, and market pages.

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Buying shares

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YES vs NO

  • Buy YES if you think the event is more likely than the current price suggests
  • Buy NO if you think the event is less likely than the current price suggests
Both YES and NO shares work identically — you’re always betting that your chosen outcome happens.

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Example

YES is trading at 40¢. You buy 100 YES shares for $40.
  • If YES resolves: your 100 shares pay 1.00each→∗∗+1.00 each → **+60 profit** (100payout−100 payout − 40 cost)
  • If NO resolves: your shares are worth 0→∗∗−0 → **−40 loss** (your full cost)

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Placing a trade

1

Select a market

Search or browse to find the market you want to trade. Click it to open the market page.
2

Choose YES or NO

The Yes and No buttons show the live price in cents (e.g. “Yes 62¢”).
3

Enter your amount

Type a dollar amount, or flip the USD/Shares toggle to enter a share count directly. The ticket shows your Avg price, Cost, and To win.
4

Buy

Click Buy to submit. Your order fills at the best available price, and the position appears on your Portfolio page.
Order minimums: buys must be at least $1 (or 5 shares’ worth at the current price, whichever is greater); sells must be at least 5 shares.

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Selling shares

You can sell your shares at any time before a market resolves — you don’t have to wait for settlement. Selling lets you:
  • Lock in a profit if the price has moved in your favor
  • Cut a loss if you change your view
  • Free up capital to redeploy elsewhere
To sell, open the market from your portfolio or the Spot page, switch the ticket to Sell, enter the number of shares to close (minimum 5), and confirm. Proceeds are credited to your pUSD balance at the fill price.
The NO side of a market is often mispriced when sentiment is skewed heavily toward YES. Trading NO can offer better value in markets with very high or very low implied probabilities.

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Settlement and redemption

When a market resolves, the outcome is determined by Polymarket’s resolution rules. Once resolved:
  • Winning shares are worth $1.00 each; losing shares expire worthless.
  • Winning positions show up on your Portfolio page marked “resolved — you won”, with a green Redeem button.
  • Click Redeem to credit the payout to your pUSD balance.
Settlement timing varies by market. Some markets resolve within hours of the event; others take days while the result is confirmed.
Redeeming is a single click from your Portfolio page — Theta Labs detects resolved positions automatically and flags them for you.