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Markets on Outcome differ along two dimensions: how many outcomes are possible (binary or multi-outcome), and what determines the resolution (a price reading or a real-world event).

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Binary markets

Binary markets have two mutually exclusive outcomes. Depending on the question, the outcomes are framed differently:
  • YES / NO for event-based markets: “Will the Fed cut rates at its next meeting?”
  • UP / DOWN for directional markets: “Will Bitcoin’s price be higher at 06:00 UTC than now?”
Both framings work mechanically the same way. There are two outcome tokens, their prices sum to approximately 100 cents (which equals 1 USDC) while the market is open, and exactly one of them settles to 1 USDC at resolution (the other settles to 0). The choice between YES/NO and UP/DOWN framing is about clarity for the user. UP/DOWN is more natural when the question is about price direction; YES/NO is more natural for everything else.

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Binary market specification

For price-based binary markets, the contract specification follows the format: 
class:priceBinary|underlying:BTC|expiry:20260503-0600|targetPrice:78213|period:1d
The fields:
  • class: the market type (priceBinary for binary price markets).
  • underlying: the underlying asset (e.g., BTC).
  • expiry: the settlement timestamp.
  • targetPrice: the price the underlying must reach or exceed for the YES outcome to settle to 1.
  • period: the recurrence cadence (e.g., 1d for daily).
The contract settles to YES if the underlying’s settlement price is at or above the target price. The settlement price is computed using linear interpolation between the mark price updates immediately before and immediately after the settlement timestamp: settlement price=markPrice0+settlementTime−t0t1−t0×(markPrice1−markPrice0)\text{settlement price} = \text{markPrice}_0 + \frac{\text{settlementTime} - t_0}{t_1 - t_0} \times (\text{markPrice}_1 - \text{markPrice}_0) Where t0t_0 and t1t_1 are the timestamps of the mark price updates immediately before and after the settlement time.

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Multi-outcome markets

Multi-outcome markets, called questions at the protocol level, are collections of outcomes where exactly one will resolve YES and all others will resolve NO. Each outcome in the question trades on its own order book with its own YES and NO tokens, and the books are linked at the protocol level so that positions across outcomes stay consistent. A typical multi-outcome market is one with several candidates or possibilities. For example:
  • A three-way election: one outcome per candidate
  • A tournament with multiple teams: one outcome per team
  • A categorical event: one outcome per category
The sum of YES prices across all outcomes of a question stays close to 100 cents while the market is open. If a four-outcome market has YES tokens trading at 30 cents, 25 cents, 25 cents, and 20 cents, the prices sum to 100 cents, reflecting that exactly one outcome will resolve and pay 1 USDC per token.

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Multi-price markets

A specific type of multi-outcome market is the multi-price market, where the outcomes are price buckets of the underlying at settlement. The contract specification follows the format: 
class:priceBucket|underlying:BTC|expiry:20260507-0745|priceThresholds:81538,81783|period:15m
For two price thresholds P1 and P2, the three outcomes are:
  • < P1
  • [P1, P2)
  • ≥ P2
Exactly one of the three outcomes settles to 1 USDC, the others to 0. The settlement price uses the same linear interpolation method described for binary markets above.

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Event markets

Event markets resolve on real-world occurrences rather than a price reading: sports results, macroeconomic data releases, central bank decisions, and similar. The market page states what the market resolves on and when. Mechanically, event markets trade exactly like price-based markets: same order book, same outcome tokens, same settlement to 1 or 0 USDC. The difference is in how the resolution is determined. Price-based markets settle against HyperCore mark prices automatically; event markets are resolved within the Hyperliquid network by its validator set. See Resolution and settlement for how both paths work. For more on what prices mean and why they sum the way they do, see Outcome tokens and pricing.