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How do I place a trade and manage my position?

Step-by-step guide to placing a trade, selling before resolution, full vs. partial sells, and canceling open orders

Catalyst offers markets on the things people actually follow: crypto prices, election outcomes, earnings reports, tech releases, entertainment, and more. Every market is powered by real Polymarket data. Browse by category, read the About section, and trade when you're ready.

Placing a trade

  1. Open the Trade tab and select a market

  2. Review the market question, current price, and scroll below the chart to read the About section

  3. In the order ticket on the right, choose Buy

  4. Select your side — YES or NO (or UP / DOWN on price direction markets)

  5. Choose your order type from the dropdown — Buy in dollars, Buy in contracts, or Limit Order

  6. Enter your size

  7. Review Total cost and Total payout

  8. Click Buy to submit

Maximum position size: $1,000 per market. Your current balance and any existing position in that market are shown in the order ticket before you submit.

After your order fills

  • The position appears in your Portfolio and in the Positions panel on the right side of the Trade page

  • Your Open P&L updates as the market price moves

  • Your Realized Account Balance does not change until you sell or the market settles

Selling before resolution

You do not have to wait for a market to resolve. You can sell all or part of your position at any time before the event concludes.

  1. Open the market you want to sell

  2. Click Sell in the order ticket

  3. Your current position is shown — contracts held, average price, total cost

  4. Choose Sell in Contracts from the dropdown

  5. Enter how many contracts you want to sell — use the quick buttons (1, 5, 10, Max) or type the amount

  6. Review Total cost and click Sell

Full sell vs. partial sell

Action

What happens

Full sell

Closes the position completely. If combined realized profit is $300 or more, counts as a qualifying trade

Partial sell

Reduces your position and locks in profit on the portion sold. Does not count as a qualifying trade until the remaining contracts are also closed

Example: You hold YES contracts in "Will Anthropic release a new model by June 30?"

  • The price moves in your favor

  • You sell half your position to lock in profit and keep the rest open

  • The partial sell does not count as a qualifying trade yet

  • Once you close the remaining contracts, if combined realized profit is $300 or more, the full round trip counts as one qualifying trade

Canceling an open order

You can cancel any open limit order before it fills. Go to Portfolio → Order History, find the open order, and click Cancel. Market orders execute immediately and cannot be canceled. Partially filled orders can still be canceled — only the unfilled portion is canceled.

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