# Account & Virtual Balance PaperMarket uses a simple account model.\ Each person has one simulation account with login credentials and a single virtual cash balance that is used for all trades. There are no wallets, no private keys and no real USDC inside PaperMarket.\ The account only exists on the PaperMarket backend and is used to keep track of your paper trading results. ### Signing up and signing in To use PaperMarket you create an account with an email and a password.\ The backend stores these credentials together with an internal user id. After sign up and on every later visit you sign in with the same email and password.\ When authentication succeeds the app loads your account state from the database * current virtual cash balance * open positions * orders and trades history * any markets you have already used in the simulation All of this state is linked to your account and is not visible to other users. ### Virtual cash balance Each account has one cash balance that is measured in virtual dollars.\ This balance is used to simulate what would happen if you traded with real money on Polymarket under the same prices and sizes. On first sign up the backend credits the account with a fixed starting amount of virtual cash for example ten thousand virtual dollars.\ From that point the balance changes only in two ways * after each simulated trade * when you explicitly top up the balance through the interface There are no deposits or withdrawals from external sources.\ PaperMarket never connects your account to a real wallet. ### How trades affect the balance Every executed trade adjusts the virtual cash balance. * Buys reduce cash by the trade size multiplied by the execution price * Sells increase cash by the trade size multiplied by the execution price The backend performs these calculations when trades are created.\ The updated balance is stored in the database and shown in the account and trade panels. If you try to buy more than your remaining balance can support the backend limits the effective size so that the balance never goes below zero.\ If there is not enough cash for even the minimum size the order is rejected and no trade is created. Because short selling is not allowed the balance is never affected by synthetic short positions or borrowing.\ All changes come from long positions being opened or closed. ### Top up behaviour Over time your virtual balance can move up or down as you experiment with different ideas.\ When it becomes low or reaches zero you can reset the cash level without resetting your history. The top up control in the app sets your cash balance back to the original starting amount. * If you have one thousand dollars left and press top up the balance becomes ten thousand * If you have seven thousand dollars left and press top up the balance also becomes ten thousand The balance does not stack and never goes above the configured starting amount because of a top up. Top ups do not touch any other part of the account * open positions stay as they are * existing orders and trades remain in the database * realized and unrealized PnL history stays intact This lets you start a new round of paper trading with a fresh cash level while keeping the full record of how you arrived there. ### Account persistence Your account and balance are stored on the PaperMarket backend between sessions. When you sign out or close the browser * your account is not deleted * your balance positions and history remain in the database When you sign in again the app reloads the same state and you can continue from where you stopped. PaperMarket does not guarantee permanent storage but the intent is to keep enough history for a trader to build and review a meaningful paper trading track record over time. ### No real funds and no guarantees The virtual balance is only a number inside the simulation.\ It does not represent a claim on real assets and cannot be withdrawn or converted into USDC. Having a high virtual balance after a series of successful trades in PaperMarket is not a guarantee that you will achieve similar results on real Polymarket markets.\ The account and the balance exist to help you practice and to measure how your ideas would have behaved under the recorded conditions. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://papermarket.gitbook.io/papermarket/portfolio-and-account/account-and-virtual-balance.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. 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