Battles

A Battle has two camps. Each round, the reference portfolio returns of every Belief entered in a camp are combined, with weights, into the camp’s score, and the camp with the higher score wins. You enter with a Belief; the cash you enter with does not buy assets. Each contribution counts on its own as one entry.

How to enter

There are two ways in:

• With your own Belief: when you launch, choose an eligible Battle and camp, keep Join this Battle checked, and select Launch and purchase. The first purchase and the entry happen together.
• With an existing Belief: select Join for the Battle on the Belief’s page, or Enter beside the Belief on the Battle’s page. You join the camp its author entered. You do not need to hold the Belief’s assets, and you can buy them as part of entering.

When you enter, you choose your Battle capital and your own Heat. You can sign up before a round or join while one is running. To add another entry to the same Battle and camp, select Enter again on an existing entry in Portfolio.

Each Battle’s page shows its schedule, eligible assets, fees and settlement rules. A round currently lasts one day and ends at 20:00 New York time. The first round can be shorter, as the Battle’s schedule shows.

How the winner is decided

Each entry’s Portfolio return is calculated first, then combined into the camp score.

The Portfolio return compares the Belief’s total reference value at the start and end shown below. The entry’s time in the round covers the same period:

• Joined during the round: from the moment the entry transaction is confirmed onchain to the round’s scheduled end.
• Joined early or renewed: from the round’s start to its scheduled end. Each renewal starts over with the new round’s start and end.

The round’s scheduled end is the cut-off its settlement uses. A late settlement or a late result does not add time to the round.

The Portfolio return keeps the Belief’s fixed quantity ratio. Each asset’s share of the value moves with prices, and a renewal does not reset it to the shares at launch.

Entries are weighted by capital × time in the round, the time from the start above to the round’s scheduled end. The more capital and the longer the time, the more an entry moves its camp’s score.

$$\text{Camp score} = \frac{\begin{gathered}\text{Sum of (capital} \times \text{time in round} \times \text{Portfolio return)} \\ \text{in the camp}\end{gathered}}{\begin{gathered}\text{Sum of (capital} \times \text{time in round)} \\ \text{in the camp}\end{gathered}}$$

For example, an entry confirmed onchain at 15:00 in a round scheduled to end at 20:00 has 5 hours in the round. If the round only settles at 20:10, it still counts as 5 hours.

The camp with the higher score wins. If the two are within the draw tolerance, the round is a Draw; the tolerance is currently 0.10 percentage points. If one camp has no entries, the round is a No contest. Neither a Draw nor a No contest moves cash between the camps.

Heat and capital loss

You choose your own Heat when you enter, from 0.01% to 100%, or one of the presets 10%, 30% or 50%. The entry keeps that Heat, including through its renewals.

The round’s Final Heat is set by all entries in both camps, weighted by capital × time in the round. Time again runs to the round’s scheduled end: from the onchain confirmation of the entry transaction for an entry joined during the round, and from the round’s start for an entry joined early or renewed.

$$\text{Final Heat} = \frac{\begin{gathered}\text{Sum of (capital} \times \text{time in round} \times \text{Heat)} \\ \text{across both camps}\end{gathered}}{\begin{gathered}\text{Sum of (capital} \times \text{time in round)} \\ \text{across both camps}\end{gathered}}$$

The Current Heat shown during a round is the same calculation, and it also uses each entry’s full time in the round, from its start above to the scheduled end. That time is fixed when the entry is made, so Current Heat changes only when new entries join.

Each entry in the losing camp has a Heat loss = its capital in the round × Final Heat. Joining late in the round does not reduce it.

Your own Heat is not a loss limit. Final Heat can be higher than the Heat you chose, and you can lose all of your capital in a round. After renewal, later rounds can lose more. Round fees are separate.

How the bonus is shared

The Heat losses of the losing camp add up to the round’s Transfer. A 5% Transfer fee is currently deducted, and the remaining 95% is paid to the winning camp as bonuses.

The time in the round used for payout weights also runs from the onchain confirmation of the entry transaction to the round’s scheduled end, or from the round’s start for an entry joined early or renewed.

$$\text{Payout weight} = \text{Capital} \times \text{Time in round} \times (1 + \text{Portfolio return})$$ $$\text{Bonus per entry} = \frac{\text{Transfer} \times 95\% \times \text{Entry's payout weight}}{\text{Sum of payout weights in the winning camp}}$$

All else equal, more capital, a longer time from the start above to the round’s scheduled end, or a higher Portfolio return earns a larger bonus. The bonus is cash on top of your capital. The portfolio’s reference gains and losses are never added to the entry’s cash.

Round fees and outcomes

Each entry currently pays a Round fee of $0.02 per round. It is reserved with your capital when you enter and plays no part in returns, Heat or payout weights.

Outcome	Capital and bonus	Transfer fee	Round fee
Win or loss	The winning camp keeps its capital and receives bonuses; losing entries pay their Heat loss	5% of the Transfer	Charged
Draw	No cash moves between camps	None	Charged
No contest	No cash moves between camps	None	Charged
Void	The round’s capital is returned and entries do not renew; earlier settled rounds stand	None	Refunded

Reference prices and late settlement are covered in Prices and settlement.

Automatic renewal

After each round settles, an entry moves into the next round by default with the same Belief, camp and Heat. Its capital for the next round is calculated as follows, with any bonus staying in:

$$\text{Next round's capital} = \text{This round's capital} - \text{Heat loss} + \text{Bonus} - \text{Next round's fee}$$

This round’s fee was reserved separately and is not deducted again here. The entry ends and its remaining cash returns to your funding account if you have asked it to stop, the Battle has no next round, no capital is left after the next round’s fee, or the next round’s fee is more than you signed for.

Leaving and refunds

Open the entry in Portfolio, choose the leave action and sign. Depending on the round, the page shows Leave before the round or Stop after this round.

Stopping means you have asked to stop automatic renewal. The entry still plays and settles the current round, then returns its remaining cash and does not enter the next round.

• You can only take out all of an entry’s remaining cash, not part of it.
• Before a round starts, leaving usually takes effect at once and refunds the capital and the reserved round fee. Close to the round’s start, it may take effect after that round settles. The review shows which applies.

Cash normally returns to your funding account automatically. If the transfer fails, the cash stays in that Battle’s contract as Battle cash. While you have Battle cash, Manage cash shows Complete cash return to move it back to your funding account. You can also use it to enter the same Battle again.