09 · Bazaar docs
Practice with pUSDC
Claim 1000.00 pUSDC once and run the whole product with nothing at stake. The pitch is fidelity: the same 10% fee, the same pool maths, the same 48-hour guarantee, the same engine. The only difference is that the money is not real.
Getting started
- 1Open Practice and claim the grant. It is one-time per account and exactly-once by construction — there is no top-up, because a balance you can refill teaches nothing about sizing.
- 2Browse the practice markets. Real and paper markets never appear in one list — the browse page renders exactly one surface at a time, so you cannot build real instincts on fake prices or vice versa.
- 3Bet, create, resolve. Everything works: templates, criteria, multi-outcome markets, odds, payouts, refunds, the guarantee.
pUSDC is not money
It is non-cashable, never touches a chain, and is always rendered
pUSDC — never with a “$”. A practice surface that looked like dollars would be training the wrong instinct.What is identical, and what is not
| Real (USDC) | Practice (pUSDC) | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry fee | 10% | 10% — same arithmetic |
| Pool maths | Parimutuel, pro-rata | Identical engine |
| Minimum bet | $0.50 | 0.50 pUSDC |
| Per-market cap | $100.00 | 100.00 pUSDC |
| Refund guarantee | 48h | 48h — the same cron, the same rule |
| Settlement | USDC on Base | Paper balance only |
| Terms gate | Accepted before your first real bet | Never gated — nothing to lose |
| Creator tiers | Earned from real volume | Never — paper cannot promote |
| Creator Score & kicker | Yes | Never — paper scores exactly zero |
| Leaderboards | Weekly / Season / All-time / Rising | A separate practice board |
| Claimable earnings | Yes | No — and the product says so rather than returning zero |
Why the firewall matters
- Crossover is impossible by construction. Currency is a tag on the market and on every balance, so a paper bet and a real bet can never meet in one pool. It is not a filter that could be forgotten — it is the type.
- It kills points-farming. If paper volume counted toward tiers or scores, the cheapest way to reach Oracle would be to bet fake money against yourself all day. Tiers and scores read real USDC only.
- It keeps the boards honest. The practice board exists and is fun, and it never mixes with a real one.
What practice is actually good for
- Learning what parimutuel odds do — watch your projected return move as other people bet, which is the one thing that surprises everybody.
- Rehearsing the creator side. Write criteria, get them wrong, watch a market become unresolvable, and learn that lesson for free rather than on a real pool.
- Testing an agent. Point a bot at paper markets first: identical request shapes, identical responses, no money at risk. See Agents & API.
Common questions
Can I get more pUSDC?
No. The grant is once per account and exactly-once at the database level. Blowing it up is part of the lesson.
Can I convert pUSDC to USDC?
Never. It is not redeemable and does not exist on any chain.
Do practice markets show up on the public board?
They live on the practice surface only, and they never interleave with real markets in any list, rail, or board.
Does resolving practice markets build my record?
No — no tier credit, no score, no badges from paper. If you want a record, it has to be earned on real markets.