> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://countertrade.gitbook.io/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://countertrade.gitbook.io/docs/start-here/paper-trading-and-real-money.md).

# Paper trading and real money

The line between the simulated balance you trade and the real tokens you deposit and claim, and why paper profit is never withdrawable.

CounterTrade runs two separate systems, and almost every question about money comes down to knowing which one you're looking at.

**You trade simulated money. You compete for real money.** The trading is paper: a simulated balance, priced against live markets, that never leaves the battle it belongs to. The competition is real: you deposit a real token to take a seat, and the winners claim a real payout.

| Simulated — stays in the battle           | Real — moves on-chain                              |
| ----------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
| Your paper balance                        | The entry fee or deposit you pay to join           |
| Positions, orders, and fills              | The prize pool the entry fees form                 |
| PnL and ROI                               | A prize you claim after settlement                 |
| Liquidations                              | A refund if the battle is cancelled                |
| Trading fees, where a battle charges them | The platform fee taken at settlement               |
| Your standing on the leaderboard          | A referral reward, when someone you referred plays |

Nothing crosses between the columns. A brilliant paper result does not add to your wallet, and a wallet balance does not buy a bigger paper balance.

## The paper side

Every battle issues each player the same starting paper balance — normally 10,000 simulated USDT. It exists only inside that battle. When the battle ends, the balance ends with it; it does not carry into the next one, and it cannot be withdrawn, transferred, or converted, however well you traded.

The prices are real. Orders fill against a live order book with real depth and real slippage, positions mark against a live price, and liquidations fire on that price. What is simulated is the money, not the market.

Your ROI — the percentage return on that starting balance — is what ranks you. Because everyone starts level, ROI compares players fairly no matter how they traded.

## The real side

Joining costs a real token, held by an on-chain escrow contract for the length of the battle. It is not spent on your trades and it is not a wager on your result; it is your stake in the prize pool, and it is refundable if the battle never runs.

When a battle finalizes, the pooled entry fees split: a platform fee is taken, and the rest becomes the prize for the winning places. CounterTrade usually sends it to the wallet you joined with; if it hasn't arrived, you claim it yourself from that wallet. See [Entry fees and escrow](/docs/funds-and-settlement/entry-fees-and-escrow.md) and [Claims and refunds](/docs/funds-and-settlement/claims-and-refunds.md).

Some battles charge a refundable deposit instead of a spent entry fee. It exists to make holding a seat cost something and comes back to you at settlement, so it is not what the prize is drawn from — in those battles the prize is funded by the organizer. A payout equal to your entry is the deposit returning; anything above it is prize.

**Referral rewards are real too**, and they are the one real payout that does not come from a battle you played. When someone you referred plays a paid battle that settles, a share of that battle's platform fee becomes a reward you claim on-chain, in that battle's token — a separate claim from any prize, and it needs a wallet to receive it. See [Referrals](/docs/funds-and-settlement/referrals.md).

## Why the line is drawn there

Keeping the trading simulated is what lets a battle price against real markets without your orders touching one. Nothing you place reaches an exchange, so no order moves a real price, and two players can fill against the same depth without competing for it.

It also bounds what you can lose. The most a battle can cost you is the entry fee you chose to pay. A liquidation wipes out paper margin, not your wallet — which is exactly why leverage inside a battle is survivable in a way real leverage is not.

## What this changes for you

Two practical consequences follow, and both catch people out.

**Your wallet is your responsibility, and it is the one that matters.** Prizes and refunds return only to the wallet that joined. Lose access to it and nobody can claim on your behalf — there is no support path that moves a payout to a different address.

**Paper losses are free; entry fees are not.** Trading aggressively costs you nothing but your standing in that battle. Entering battles you don't play does cost real money. The risk worth managing is how many seats you buy, not how much leverage you use.

## Related

* [Entry fees and escrow](/docs/funds-and-settlement/entry-fees-and-escrow.md)
* [Referrals](/docs/funds-and-settlement/referrals.md)
* [PnL and ROI](/docs/trading/pnl-and-roi.md)