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Glossary

Common terms and definitions used on Public Wager and in prediction markets.

A​

Ask The lowest price at which someone is willing to sell shares. Also called "offer price."

Available Balance Funds in your wallet that are free to trade or withdraw.

B​

Bid The highest price someone is willing to pay to buy shares.

Binary Market A prediction market with only two possible outcomes: YES or NO.

Buy Order An instruction to purchase shares at a specified price and quantity.

C​

Close Price The final trading price when a market stops accepting trades.

Conditional Market A market whose resolution depends on another market's outcome.

Cost Basis The total amount you paid to acquire your shares, including fees.

D​

Drawdown The decline from a peak portfolio value to a trough.

Diversification Spreading investments across multiple markets to reduce risk.

E​

Edge An advantage that gives you better information or analysis than the market consensus.

Expected Value (EV) The average outcome you can expect from a bet, accounting for probabilities and payouts.

Exit Selling your position before the market resolves.

F​

Fill When your buy or sell order is successfully executed.

Flash Crash A very rapid, deep price drop that quickly recovers, often due to technical issues.

G​

Going Long Buying YES shares because you believe the event will happen.

Going Short Buying NO shares because you believe the event won't happen.

H​

Hedge Taking an offsetting position to reduce risk.

Hold Keeping your shares until market resolution rather than selling early.

I​

Illiquid Market A market with low trading volume, making it harder to buy or sell.

Implied Probability The probability suggested by share prices (e.g., $0.70 = 70% probability).

L​

Limit Order An order to buy or sell only at a specific price or better.

Liquidity How easily you can buy or sell without affecting the price significantly.

Long Shot A market outcome with low probability (share price under $0.30).

M​

Market Maker Someone who provides liquidity by offering to buy and sell shares.

Market Order An order that executes immediately at the best available price.

Market Resolution The process of determining the final outcome and distributing payouts.

Multiple Choice Market A market with three or more mutually exclusive outcomes.

N​

N/A Resolution When a market is cancelled and all traders are refunded (should be rare).

NO Shares Shares that pay $1.00 if the event does NOT happen.

O​

Open Position Shares you currently hold in an unresolved market.

Order Book A list of all pending buy and sell orders at various prices.

Outcome The result of an event (YES, NO, or a specific option in multiple choice markets).

P​

Paper Trading Practice trading with virtual money (if available).

Payout The final payment you receive when your position wins.

Position The shares you hold in a particular market.

Probability The likelihood of an outcome, reflected in share prices.

R​

Realized P&L Profit or loss that's locked in because you sold or the market resolved.

Resolution Criteria The specific rules defining how a market outcome will be determined.

Resolution Source The authoritative source used to determine market outcome.

Risk The possibility of losing money on your investment.

S​

Scalar Market A market that resolves to a specific numeric value within a range.

Share A unit of ownership in a market outcome. Max value: $1.00.

Slippage The difference between expected and actual execution price.

Spread The difference between the best bid (buy) and ask (sell) prices.

Stop Loss A predetermined price at which you'll sell to limit losses.

T​

Trading Volume The total amount of money traded in a market.

Take Profit A predetermined price at which you'll sell to lock in gains.

U​

Unrealized P&L Profit or loss on open positions that isn't locked in yet (paper profit/loss).

V​

Volatility How much and how quickly prices change.

Volume See Trading Volume.

W​

Wallet Your account balance available for trading and withdrawal.

Win Rate The percentage of your positions that were profitable.

Y​

YES Shares Shares that pay $1.00 if the event DOES happen.

Yield The return on investment, usually expressed as a percentage.

Common Acronyms​

ACH - Automated Clearing House (bank transfer method)

EV - Expected Value

P&L - Profit and Loss

ROI - Return on Investment

2FA - Two-Factor Authentication

KYC - Know Your Customer (identity verification)

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