Reading a public trading observatory.
A public trading observatory is a window, not a cockpit. On Vwapster you can watch bot snapshots without logging in, placing orders, or handing over credentials. That design choice matters: the numbers are there to be inspected, not to push you into a trade. This note walks through the main cards and tables so the dark UI feels legible instead of mysterious.
Start with the bot tab
The homepage tabs switch which bot’s snapshot you are viewing — for example short windows on BTC, ETH, or SOL at 15-minute or 1-hour cadences shown on the Site. Every metric below the fold belongs to the selected tab. Comparing tabs is useful; mixing them into one mental “overall P&L” without reading labels is not. Always check the bot label and any on-page notes before you interpret a streak.
Some bots may be documented as paper, live, or continuity-style sources. Those labels describe how the snapshot is produced for the observatory. They are not a forecast of how a future product would behave in your account. When in doubt, treat each tab as its own instrument panel.
Open positions
Open positions are contracts the selected bot currently holds. Where public quotes are available, the UI marks them so you can see an approximate market value. Marks move; a green or red tint in one refresh can flip in the next. Positions can also flatten at settlement even if you never watched the exit. If the table is empty, that is information too — the bot may be flat between windows.
Predictions cash
Cash on the dashboard is context for the Kalshi-style account balance associated with the feed — not a personal wallet for Site visitors. Cash can be shared across bots rather than locked into a hard per-bot silo. That means a cash figure may not move one-for-one with a single tab’s P&L. Use it as background: “is there dry powder?” — not as a scoreboard for one strategy alone.
Realized P&L versus open marked P&L
These two numbers answer different questions:
- Realized P&L — cumulative results from settled or recorded bot trades inside the tracking window. Once a trade is realized, its contribution stays in this bucket (subject to how the journal defines the window).
- Open marked P&L — unrealized mark-to-market on current positions. It excludes potential exit fees and can swing with quotes.
- Net P&L — realized plus open marked, a quick combined view that is still only as good as its inputs.
A day with strong open marked P&L and weak realized P&L is not “secretly winning” until settlements or exits confirm it. The reverse is also true: realized gains can sit next to ugly open marks. Read both columns.
Trade record and win rate
Trade stats usually include total trades, wins, losses, and a win rate for settled outcomes in the same tracking period. Win rate is a blunt instrument. A high win rate with tiny average wins and rare large losses can still lose money. A lower win rate with asymmetric payoffs can look “worse” in the percentage while the journal’s dollar P&L tells another story. Prefer looking at win rate beside realized P&L and sample size — not instead of them.
Small samples lie politely. A handful of 15-minute windows is not a season. When the history table is short, treat percentages as provisional.
Refresh cadence and timestamps
The live client refreshes roughly every 15 seconds. Server summaries are cached briefly so the Site stays stable under load. That means you may see a beat of lag after a fill or settlement. Timestamps on the Site use America/Chicago. If you are comparing the observatory to another clock, convert deliberately.
What the observatory cannot tell you
It cannot tell you what you should trade. It cannot promise that tomorrow will resemble today. It may omit certain fills by design, or show continuity across paper and live sources depending on the bot. Fees, slippage, and exchange outages can make a journal look different from a brokerage statement. For methodology, see About; for short answers, see the FAQ.
A simple reading checklist
- Confirm which bot tab is active.
- Note whether the bot is flat or holding open risk.
- Separate realized dollars from open marks.
- Check sample size before celebrating a win rate.
- Read the on-page notes for that bot.
- Remember: informational only — not financial advice.
If you want the market context behind bots like these, start with What is a prediction market bot? For the naming idea around volume-weighted averages and short windows, continue to VWAP and short-dated crypto markets. Curious about a future product? Join the waitlist.