> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://cyphers-3138df4b.mintlify.site/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Introduction > What Cyphers is, who it's for, and what makes it different from other prediction markets. Cyphers is a prediction market on Solana. The twist: your bet - which side you picked - stays private until the market settles. Other prediction markets publish every bet to anyone who can read a block explorer. Cyphers doesn't. This page is for someone who's heard about Cyphers and wants to know what it actually is. If you're ready to bet, jump to the [Quickstart](/quickstart). ## Why hidden bets matter In a normal prediction market, every bet is a public record: * A market on "Will Bitcoin hit \$200k this year?" shows everyone who bet YES, who bet NO, and how much. * Whales watching the order flow can see whichever way a market is leaning and trade against it. * Bots can copy whatever the smart money is doing within seconds. * Your political bets, sports bets, or anything else become part of your public on-chain profile. This isn't a hypothetical problem. On every major prediction market today, public bets are routinely scraped, indexed, and used to front-run new positions. Cyphers fixes this by encrypting the side of every bet before it lands on chain. The amount is still public - the protocol needs it to track funds - but *which side you picked* is hidden until the market closes. ## What stays private, what doesn't It helps to be precise about what Cyphers does and doesn't hide. | What | Hidden? | | --------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------- | | Your chosen side (YES vs NO, or which option) | **Yes**, until the market settles | | Your stake amount | No - visible on chain | | Your wallet address | No | | That you bet on a specific market | No | | The result of the market once it resolves | No - public, like any settlement | So Cyphers hides **your prediction**, not your participation. If you're betting `$50` on a YesNo market, the network sees a wallet bet `$50`, but not whether it was on YES or NO. ## How a market works, in three steps Pick any market in the app and the flow is the same: 1. **You bet.** You pick a side, choose an amount, and confirm. Cyphers encrypts your side in your browser before sending it to Solana. 2. **The market closes.** When the close time passes, betting stops. The market enters a waiting state until a resolver posts the real-world outcome. 3. **Settlement.** The Arcium network decrypts every bet at once, computes who won and how much, and writes the result back to Solana. After a short challenge window (so anyone can flag a bad resolution), winners can claim their USDC. For the full timeline with deadlines and edge cases, see [Market lifecycle](/how-it-works/lifecycle). ## What you can do on Cyphers **Bet.** Pick a market that's open, choose a side, place a stake. See [Place a bet](/guides/place-a-bet). **Create a market.** Have a question worth resolving? Post a market with a USDC bond and earn a share of every bet placed on it. See [Create a market](/guides/create-a-market). **Claim a payout.** When a market you bet on resolves and you picked the winning side, you can claim your share of the pool. See [Claim payout](/guides/claim-payout). **Dispute a result.** If a market's resolver posts an outcome that looks wrong, anyone can flag it during the challenge window. See [Dispute resolution](/guides/dispute-resolution). ## Two market types Cyphers supports two shapes of markets. That's it - no hidden tiers or modes. * **YesNo.** A binary question with two possible answers. "Will BTC close above \$100k on 1 Jan 2026?" * **MultiOutcome.** A question with 2–4 named options. "Which chain has the most TVL on 1 Jan 2026? \[Solana | Ethereum | Base]" For when to use which, see [Market types](/how-it-works/market-types). ## A few things to be aware of * **USDC, not SOL.** Every bet and payout uses USDC. You'll need USDC in your wallet to bet. * **Minimum bet is `$1`.** Markets accept any amount from `$1` upward, in USDC. * **A small fee comes out.** Two small fees are deducted from every bet: a protocol fee (up to `1%`) and a market-creator fee (up to `5%`). The breakdown is on [Fees](/how-it-works/fees). * **There's a wait at settlement.** When a market closes, the off-chain decryption takes around 10 seconds. The challenge window after that is `24` to `48` hours. ## What's next Connect your wallet and place a bet in a few minutes. The high-level idea of how encryption keeps your side hidden. What you'll actually pay on each bet. Common questions answered fast.