Settlement records the final outcome and pays or refunds open positions.
These market types settle automatically from their configured data sources:
Autosettlement workers check eligible contracts every four hours. A market remains pending until its source provides a valid result. When a result is available, the market records the outcome and processes positions.
Freeform markets use manual settlement because their questions are defined by their creators. Once the outcome is known, the creator can settle one pending Freeform market at a time. The creator selects the final outcome and can provide a reason.
Platform admins can settle any pending market. For an automatically settled market, an admin can force settlement when an override is required. A documented reason is required for force settlement.
Each winning share pays 1 credit. Each losing share pays 0 credits.
For example, 25 winning shares pay 25 credits. This is the gross payout, not the net return after the original purchase cost.
A YES position wins when its exchange resolves YES. A NO position wins when its exchange resolves NO.
Positions traded inside a tournament pay into that tournament balance. Positions traded outside a tournament pay into the holder's global balance. Settlement does not move a tournament payout into the global balance.
A cancelled or N/A outcome refunds the remaining position instead of choosing a winner. The refund returns the refundable cost of the held shares to the same balance context.
Conditional IF markets also refund when the antecedent condition fails. See Conditional Markets for how that condition controls settlement.
Once processed, payouts and refunds appear in settlement transaction history.
