Resolving markets, disputes and the dispute window

A market is resolved in two steps: staff propose an outcome, a dispute window runs during which traders can object, and the result is finalised, by itself if nobody disputed it, or by a staff decision. With trading from wallets, the final result is then recorded on chain, and every holder collects their own winnings.

The lifecycle

Trading ──close──▶ Closed ──propose──▶ Proposed ──window ends, undisputed──▶ Resolved
   │                  ▲                   │                                     ▲
   └─ trading off ────┘◀─── reopen ───────┘                 finalise (staff) ───┘

The market page's Resolution panel shows where a market is and offers only the steps that make sense there.

1. Stop trading when the result is known

The moment the answer is known (the final whistle, the commission's announcement), switch Trading off on the market, or Trading across the event on the event page for all outcomes at once. Resting orders stay and can be cancelled; nothing new matches. Or Close trading, which also cancels every resting order.

2. Propose the outcome

On an open or closed market:

1. Choose Yes or No under Outcome. The panel shows which way the market leans, for a sanity check.
2. Set the dispute window, in minutes. The default is the platform's (120 minutes, two hours, set under Settings → Resolution). That setting is a floor: a resolver may set a longer window but never a shorter one, and only an admin may go below it. The longest is 14 days.
3. Press Propose Yes (or No) and confirm. Trading stops and resting orders are cancelled. Everyone holding a position is told the proposal and the deadline.

A proposal made before the market's closing time is allowed, but every other staff member is told ("Early resolution proposed"), so an early call is always seen by a second pair of eyes.

Multi-outcome events: pick the winner

On the event's page, Pick the winner proposes the whole event in one step: the winner resolves Yes and every other outcome resolves No, with one dispute window. Trading stops on all of them now and they settle together when the window ends. A dispute on any outcome holds all of them until staff decide. Outcomes handled one at a time sit at different stages, and the event page then points at each market page instead.

3. The dispute window

Traders who hold or traded the market can press Dispute on its page while the window is open and explain why the proposal is wrong, with a source. Only traders in the market can dispute, so nobody can hold up settlement for free.

Every dispute appears on the Disputes page, grouped by market, oldest first, with the trader's reason. Add a staff note to a dispute to record what you checked; the trader is told the decision either way.

Read the reasons, check the rules and the source again, then decide on the market page (or the event page for a grouped proposal):

You find	Press	Effect
The proposal is right	Finalise as proposed (event: The proposal stands: settle now)	Every position settles now; open disputes are rejected, and whoever raised one is told
The proposal is wrong, the other way	Change the outcome, then Finalise as the other outcome	Settles the other way; open disputes are upheld
The result is not known after all	Reopen trading (event: The dispute is right: withdraw the proposal)	Back to Closed with trading off (or trading again until a new close); disputes upheld; propose again later
The question cannot be decided fairly	Cancel market (settle at 50¢)	See Cancelling a market

If nobody disputes, housekeeping finalises the proposal by itself when the window ends. Finalising settles money, so it asks for confirmation and needs your authenticator-confirmed session.

Admin overrides

Admins alone see an Override panel on open and closed markets: Resolve Yes/No now settles immediately and skips the dispute window; on a multi-outcome event, Resolve as the event winner or Override with a different winner. Use these only when the result is beyond question, and never to beat a dispute: a result traders can see being decided in the open is what keeps them trading. Every override is in the audit log with your name.

4. What happens when a result is final

• Play money and Demo: every winning share pays $1 into the holder's balance at once; there is nothing to claim.
• Trading from wallets (the website, BNB Smart Chain): the result waits until every trade on the market has settled on chain, then Jua's resolver records it on the Conditional Tokens contract (reportPayouts: Yes [1, 0], No [0, 1]). Each holder then presses Collect winnings from their own wallet. Jua cannot collect for anyone. When the resolver is a Safe rather than a server key, the result waits for the Safe's signers to report it; the market's row shows "Waiting for the resolver (a Safe) to report the result" until they do.
• The Telegram Mini App (TON): the same, on JuaTonExchange, once the market's TON trades have settled; holders collect from the Portfolio tab.

A result is final once recorded on chain: neither contract accepts a second report. If Jua's books and the chain ever disagree on a result, the operator stops and the operations team must look (Monitoring and alerts).

Rules of thumb

• Propose from the written rules and the named source, not from the price or the news. If the rules are ambiguous, say so in the dispute note and prefer the reading a reasonable trader would have had when buying.
• Give enough window for holders to notice: two hours is the default; a weekend result, or a market with many holders, deserves longer.
• Never settle a market you traded. The portal refuses it, and another staff member must.
• Write down what you checked. The audit log keeps every action; the dispute note is where the reasoning goes.