One of the most common questions from new traders in prediction markets is: "can I sell my position before the market settles if I change my mind?" On PolySouq the answer is direct: selling before settlement is not available, and every position stays open until the market is settled. There is exactly one exception: you can cancel a stake on a football match before kickoff and get your full amount back. This guide explains why the platform is built this way, how it follows from the parimutuel pool model, and what it means in practice for how much you stake and when. This is real-money trading: you can lose the full amount you put in, and nothing guarantees a profit.
When you put money on an outcome on PolySouq, your stake goes into that outcome's pool and stays there until the market is settled. There is no "sell" button that returns part of your stake before the end, and no way to turn an open position into cash before the result is known. If a sell request reaches the system by an API or any other route, it is rejected with a clear message: selling is not available and positions are held until settlement.
This is not a temporary glitch or a "coming soon" feature. It is a design decision tied to how markets work on the platform. So it is best to treat every trade as final until settlement: before you press confirm, ask yourself whether you are ready to leave this amount in the market until the end, however the displayed probability moves along the way.
This differs from some platforms elsewhere that run an order book and let you sell contracts to another trader before the end. If you are coming from one of those, read our guide on parimutuel pools vs order books to see the full difference.
On football markets specifically, you can cancel your stake before the opening whistle and get the full amount back to your balance. This is not a sale at a market price and not an exit at a profit or loss. It is a simple cancellation, as if you had never entered: your stake is removed from the pool and returned unchanged.
Note an important detail: trading on a match can stay open after kickoff (in-play trading), but cancellation stops at the opening whistle. Any stake you place after kickoff is final until settlement and cannot be cancelled. If you are unsure about a prediction, the time to step back is before kickoff only.
Markets on PolySouq run as parimutuel pools: everyone who expects an outcome puts money into that outcome's pool, and when the market settles the people who were right split the losing pool in proportion to their stakes, each also getting their own stake back in full. The only fee is a 10% commission on the losing pool only. There is no entry fee.
In this model there is no fixed "price" for a position that you could sell to someone else, and nobody buys your position from you, because the platform never takes the other side of any trade. The money in the two pools is exactly the money shared out at settlement, and the accounting must always balance: what is paid to winners plus the commission equals exactly what was staked in both pools. If every trader could pull money out at will, the pools would keep shifting in ways that make it hard to keep that balance and keep the split fair to those who stayed until the end.
The practical result is a simple, transparent model: you know in advance that the most you can lose is the amount you staked, and that if you are right you get your stake back in full plus your share of the losing pool after commission. For the numbers, see the payout formula with worked examples.
When you type an amount on the trade screen, PolySouq shows an estimated payout: what you would receive if the pools stopped at that moment and your outcome won. That figure is not a locked price. It changes as new money enters either pool until the market closes. The final payout is set at settlement only.
Because there is no selling before settlement, movements in the displayed probability during a market's life are not realised gains or losses. If your outcome rises from 40% to 70% before the end, nothing is added to your balance until the market actually settles in your favour. The reverse is also true: a falling percentage is not a realised loss while the market is still open. In the end only two things matter: did the outcome you expected happen, and how big were the two pools at settlement?
No selling before settlement changes how you think about a trade. Instead of asking "will this probability go up tomorrow?", ask "will this outcome actually happen at settlement?". Some practical rules:
The golden rule: never put money into a market that you might need before its settlement date.
Even though there is no selling, there are cases where your full stake returns to your balance automatically, with no commission:
These cases are covered in when markets are voided and refunded. After settlement, your payout appears in your balance and can be withdrawn in USDC on the Polygon network, with a $5 minimum withdrawal; note that larger withdrawals go through manual review.
PolySouq is an Arabic-first event trading platform built on parimutuel pools: you put your stake on the outcome you expect, it stays there until settlement, and if you are right you get it back in full plus your share of the losing pool after a 10% commission on that pool only. There is no selling before settlement, and the single exception is cancelling a football stake before kickoff. For anyone looking for a prediction market trading platform with rules you can understand up front, that simplicity makes every decision clearer: you know your maximum loss before you press confirm.
Risk warning: trading on PolySouq uses real money (USDC). You can lose the full amount you put into any market, and nothing guarantees a profit. Only trade what you can afford to lose. The service is for users aged 18+, and eligibility and terms apply. This content is educational; seek independent financial advice before any financial decision.
If you are new, start with opening an account and your first trade, then browse all available markets and pick one you understand well, with a settlement date that suits you.
No. Selling before settlement is not available on PolySouq, and every position stays open until the market settles. The only exception is cancelling a stake on a football match before kickoff for a full refund.
You can cancel your stake on a football match from your Portfolio page, where a cancel button appears next to the position until the opening whistle, and your full amount returns to your balance. After kickoff, cancellation stops and the position stays until settlement.
No. Cancellation is only available on football markets before kickoff. Crypto, politics, economics and stock positions stay until settlement.
No. The displayed probability reflects each outcome's share of the money staked, and its movement adds nothing to your balance. You only profit if the market settles on the outcome you backed.
No. It is an estimate based on the pool sizes at the moment you trade, and it changes as new money arrives until the market closes. The final payout is set at settlement.
Because markets run as parimutuel pools: the money in the pools is exactly what is shared out at settlement, and the platform never takes the other side of a trade, so there is no counterparty to buy your position before the end.
Your full stake comes back if the platform cancels or voids the market, if there are no losers, if there are no winners, or if nobody staked on the opposite side of your position. No commission is taken in these cases.
Start small, check the market's settlement date, compare your own probability with the displayed one, and never stake money you may need before settlement. You can lose the full amount, so only trade what you can afford to lose.
Disclaimer: Prediction markets are a legal and legitimate way to trade information about the outcomes of future events. However, trading carries risk and you may lose the full amount you trade — so only trade what you can afford to lose. This content is educational and is not financial or investment advice.