Positions & payouts
Once your bet fills, you hold a position: a stack of shares in one outcome. From there it gains or loses with the price, and it pays out when the market settles.
Reading your position
Your position comes down to three numbers.
- Cost is what you paid to get in.
- Value now is what those shares are worth at the current price.
- Unrealised is the gap between them, your profit or loss on paper.
It's unrealised until you act on it. Sell, and the gain or loss locks in. Hold, and it rides until the market settles.
Two ways to get paid
Sell before it ends
You can cash out any time the market's open. Price moved your way? Sell and bank it. Went against you? Sell and cap the loss.
Either way you're just trading at the current odds. See How prices move.
Hold to settlement
When the event resolves, every share pays out from the market's escrow:
- Winning outcome: $1.00 a share.
- Losing outcome: $0.00.
Your winnings land in your balance automatically. There's nothing to claim.
Where the money comes from
Every matched bet put real funds into the market's escrow. At settlement, that pot is exactly what pays the winners. Kohana isn't on the other side, it just hands the pot to whoever was right.
A quick example
You bought 300 Yes at an average of 40¢, so $120 in. The market resolves Yes.
- Each share pays $1.00, so your 300 shares are worth $300.00.
- You're up $180.00, straight to your balance.
Had it gone the other way, the shares would be worth $0 and your $120 would be gone. That's the deal you took.
If a market is voided
Sometimes a market can't be settled fairly. The question turns ambiguous, or the event gets scrapped.
Rather than pick a winner, it's voided, and the escrow is handed back to position holders in proportion to what they hold. Your share of the pot lands back in your balance.
When your money frees up
| Event | What happens to your balance |
|---|---|
| You cancel a resting order | Reserved funds → available, right away |
| You sell to close | Proceeds → available, on the fill |
| Market settles (you won) | Payout → available |
| Market settles (you lost) | Position closes at $0.00 |
| Market is voided | Proportional refund → available |
Fees
A small fee may apply to settlement payouts. It's baked into the amount you receive, and spelled out in Fees.