So I created a new asset on the bank and exchange. I call it MKC which stands for market cap, specifically that the market cap of BTSX on July 19, 2015 will be $1,000,000,000. One Billion US Dollars is about 35 times greater than what the market cap is estimated to be at the moment.
"When do I buy? When do I sell?
As described above, there are two possible outcomes to each event - yes, the event will happen, or no, the event won't happen. Your opinion on what the outcome will be determines whether you buy shares or sell shares:
If you predict the market event will happen then you BUY shares
If you predict the market event will not happen then you SELL shares.
(Yes, you can sell shares before you own them. This is known as "short selling" and is explained further below in Short Selling - selling shares that you don't own.)
As an example, let's say you want to make a prediction on the following market: The Dow Jones to close on or above 13,000 on 30 Dec 2011. If you predict the Dow Jones will close on or above 13,000 then you will BUY shares. If you predict the Dow Jones will not close on or above 13,000 (i.e. close lower than 13,000) then you will SELL shares."
https://www.intrade.com/v4/misc/howItWorks/theBasics.jsp