Understanding Shares#
YES and NO shares are the only thing you trade on Seesaw. This page explains what they are, what they cost, and what they pay out.
In plain English#
Every Seesaw market is a yes/no question about whether a price will go up. You bet on a side by buying that side's shares:
- YES shares pay you $1 if the asset price ends higher than or equal to the start price.
- NO shares pay you $1 if the asset price ends lower than the start price.
- If you bet the wrong side, your shares pay you $0.
The price of a share is always between 0¢ and $1, and it reflects the market's current best guess at probabilities:
- A YES share at 60¢ means the market thinks there's roughly a 60% chance the price goes up.
- That same market prices NO shares at 40¢ (the other 40%).
- The two sides always add up to $1 because exactly one of them will pay the full $1.
So buying YES at 60¢ means "I'm risking 60¢ to maybe make 40¢." Buying NO at 40¢ means "I'm risking 40¢ to maybe make 60¢."
You can sell shares back to the market any time before it closes — at whatever price someone else is willing to pay. You don't have to hold to resolution.
The 7-day claim rule: after a market resolves, you have 7 days to claim your winnings. Abandoned positions can be forfeited. See Claiming Winnings and Risks.
The basics#
Every market asks one binary question:
Will the asset price be UP or DOWN compared to the start of this window?
| Share type | You believe | Payout if correct |
|---|---|---|
| YES | Price will be UP or UNCHANGED | 1 USDT per share |
| NO | Price will be DOWN | 1 USDT per share |
Tie goes to YES: if end price equals start price, YES wins.
Share pricing#
Prices are in basis points (bps) on-chain, where 10,000 bps = 100% = $1. The app shows normal dollar prices ($0.60); the bps form is what the order book actually stores.
| YES price (bps) | YES price ($) | Implied UP probability | NO price (bps) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7000 | $0.70 | 70% | 3000 |
| 6000 | $0.60 | 60% | 4000 |
| 5000 | $0.50 | 50% | 5000 |
| 4000 | $0.40 | 40% | 6000 |
| 3000 | $0.30 | 30% | 7000 |
YES price + NO price always equals 10,000 bps ($1). This is enforced by the dual-view order book — see Placing Orders for how that works.
Full collateralization#
Every share is backed by USDT held in the market vault. There is no leverage, no margin, and no liquidation risk. You can only lose what you paid for your shares.
When YES wins, the vault pays you back $1 per YES share. When NO wins, NO holders get $1 per NO share. The vault always has exactly enough to pay one side — solvency is a hard on-chain invariant.
How new shares come into existence#
Shares are created when a matching trade executes: one buyer and one seller together lock $1 of collateral to produce 1 YES + 1 NO share.
You never need to think about this — it happens automatically in the matching engine. What you care about is the price you pay and the payout you receive.
Profit and loss#
Your P&L depends entirely on what you paid vs what the market settles at.
If you bought YES @ 6000 bps ($0.60)#
| Outcome | Payout | P&L |
|---|---|---|
| UP (YES wins) | $1.00 | +$0.40 (+67%) |
| DOWN (NO wins) | $0.00 | −$0.60 (−100%) |
If you bought NO @ 4000 bps ($0.40)#
| Outcome | Payout | P&L |
|---|---|---|
| DOWN (NO wins) | $1.00 | +$0.60 (+150%) |
| UP (YES wins) | $0.00 | −$0.40 (−100%) |
If the market expires (oracle outage)#
Both YES and NO pay $0.50 — a 50/50 fallback split. See Claiming Winnings.
Selling shares before resolution#
You can sell any shares you own back into the market at any time before it closes. Use a sell order (see Placing Orders) to lock in profits or cut losses.
You can only sell shares you already hold. The protocol does not allow naked shorting — to bet against a side, buy the other side's shares instead.
Holding both sides#
If you hold N YES shares and N NO shares, you're guaranteed to receive exactly N USDT no matter what the outcome is — because exactly one side pays $1 and the other pays $0:
| Holdings | If UP | If DOWN |
|---|---|---|
| 100 YES + 100 NO | $100 | $100 |
| 50 YES + 100 NO | $50 | $100 |
| 100 YES + 50 NO | $100 | $50 |
This is useful for locking in a guaranteed return when you've accumulated both sides cheaply, or for hedging a directional bet.
Position accounting#
Your position in a market tracks:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
yes_shares | YES shares you own (unlocked) |
no_shares | NO shares you own (unlocked) |
locked_yes_shares | YES shares locked in your resting sell orders |
locked_no_shares | NO shares locked in your resting sell orders |
collateral_locked | USDT locked in your resting buy orders |
Available shares for trading = yes_shares − locked_yes_shares (and same
for NO). Locked collateral is released when you cancel the order or claim
after resolution.
Next steps#
- Placing Orders — how to buy and sell shares
- Managing Positions — monitoring, adjusting, cancelling
- Claiming Winnings — collecting your payout
- Risks — the 7-day rule and other things to know
- How funds flow — where your USDT goes