People Markets is an exchange for leveraged derivatives on listed public figures. The instruments are perpetual futures, settled in cash, marked to a published index, and funded by a hourly rate that pulls the mark toward that index. The mechanics are documented in the explainer. The risks of holding a position in these instruments are documented here.
Read the whole page. If a section uses a term you have not seen, follow the link in the explainer. Do not open a position you do not understand the worst-case outcome of, and do not trade with capital you cannot afford to lose.
1. Leverage and liquidation.
Perpetual futures are leveraged. The position you carry on the venue is several times the collateral you posted. A small adverse move in the mark, magnified by leverage, can take your collateral to zero and beyond. When your margin falls below the maintenance threshold the position is liquidated automatically. The liquidation engine closes positions at the best available price; in thin conditions, the realized loss can exceed the collateral you posted.
Margin tiers, initial margin, maintenance margin, and the liquidation procedure are pre-priced and public. They do not change without notice. The venue runs an insurance fund as the first backstop on liquidations that fail to close in positive territory; in extreme circumstances, deficit can be socialized through a documented auto-deleveraging procedure. Both are described in the binding terms.
2. Funding rate exposure.
Funding is paid hourly between the long and short sides of every market. When the mark trades above the index the long side pays the short side; when the mark trades below the index the short side pays the long. The rate is a function of the mark-to-index gap and is published in real time on the trading surface.
In trending markets, funding can become the dominant component of P&L over short horizons. A directional position that is right about the trend but pays a sustained funding rate against it can finish the week underwater. Read the funding rate before you size, and consider funding as a real cost of holding any position beyond a few hours.
3. Liquidity gaps.
Heavily traded subjects have deep books at most hours. Long-tail subjects do not. Overnight, on holidays, and during quiet news cycles, the book on a thinner subject can get thin enough that a moderate market order moves the mark by a percent or more. Stop orders, in particular, can fill at prices materially worse than the trigger.
Slippage and gap moves are part of the surface, not a bug. Use limit orders if the precise fill matters. Size positions to the depth of the book you intend to trade against. The trading surface shows depth at every level; consult it before committing.
4. Oracle risk.
The slow component of the index depends on multi-source signed feeds. We use multiple oracle providers per signal, with a documented dispute mechanism for any reading that diverges. Oracle delays, partial outages, and reweights are unavoidable in a system that aggregates real-world data, and they affect price directly because the funding rate pulls toward the published index.
We document every oracle event materially affecting a market: which signal affected, the alternate readings, the resolution, and the funding adjustment, if any. The trading surface flags markets in active oracle dispute. Position-holders in those markets can close, hold, or wait for resolution; the procedure is the same for everyone.
5. Subject risk.
Subjects are public people. They have careers, lives, and unforeseen events. A confirmed death, a criminal indictment, a public retirement, or a material scandal can move the mark by a large amount in a small window. Some of those moves trigger the circuit-breaker procedure documented in the listing rules; some do not.
The circuit breaker is a backstop, not a guarantee. The venue cannot promise that every catastrophic event will be caught before the mark moves. If you carry leverage on a subject, treat the possibility of an abrupt subject-level move as baseline rather than tail.
6. Regulatory risk.
The venue is offered in a defined list of jurisdictions and is unavailable elsewhere. The list updates as we add markets and, in rare cases, as we remove them. A change to the regulatory perimeter in your jurisdiction can result in forced position closure, withdrawal of the venue, or both. Where possible, we will issue notice with a defined wind-down window.
Tax treatment of perpetual futures varies by jurisdiction and changes over time. We do not provide tax advice. We do provide a position and trade history adequate for any reasonable jurisdiction's reporting requirements; consult a tax professional to understand how to file.
7. This is not investment advice.
Nothing on People Markets, on this page, in the explainer, in the journal, or on the trading surface is investment advice. The catalog is not a recommendation. The leaderboards are not a recommendation. The funding rate is not a recommendation. The trades other users execute are not a recommendation.
We are an exchange. We list eligible subjects, we publish the methodology, we run the matching engine, and we charge a fee. The decisions are yours. Trade only what you can afford to lose.
8. Contact.
Pre-launch questions about specific risks, margin tiers, the funding curve, or the oracle architecture go to risk@peoplemarkets.xyz. The structured risk disclosure document publishes before the venue opens and is linked from this page at that point. Working drafts of any section are available on request to founders@peoplemarkets.xyz.