Market concepts

Scalar temperature markets

Scalar markets track NYC Central Park air temperature in Fahrenheit.

The displayed mark is encoded:

mark = 500 + temperature_f

So a 72.4 F temperature corresponds to a mark near 572.4.

Scalar markets run on a 120-minute UTC bucket clock. At the end of each bucket, settlement uses TWAP-120: the time-weighted average of the last 120 seconds. One scalar asset trades while the partner asset waits for its turn.

Binary markets

Binary markets use fixed up/down style contracts. In the current API examples, binary assets are GBETA and GBETB.

The binary API exposes a phase for each asset:

Phase	Meaning for clients
STAGING	Not open for entries
TRADING	Entries and closes can be accepted
RAMP	Close behavior may still be allowed, but new entries should be treated carefully
SETTLED	Bucket is done

Binary entries use direction:

Direction	Meaning
UP	Buy side; wins if the settlement mark is above the midpoint
DOWN	Sell side; wins if the settlement mark is below the midpoint

Use /v1/binary/status and /v1/binary/bucket to decide what the UI should show.

Outcome markets

Outcome markets are HIP-4 markets. Users trade shares in a named outcome, usually shown as a yes/no or multi-outcome question.

Outcome markets do not use the scalar bucket clock. Each market has its own expiry and settlement state. Use /v1/outcomes/meta for the market list and expiry fields.

Access and modes

The backend runs in a market mode. Some routes are intentionally hidden outside their mode:

Mode	Hidden routes
Scalar	/v1/binary/*
Binary	Scalar market reads and scalar direct trading routes

Clients should not hard-code one market family as always available. Read /v1/runtime-config, call the relevant market metadata endpoint, and handle 404, 403, and 503 responses cleanly.