Getting Started with Opinion Markets on Cue
Prediction markets are popping up everywhere, and we're starting to see more remixes of the model. One project I've started tracking this week is Cue, an upstart referral-only onchain opinion markets platform on Solana.
Unlike Polymarket and Kalshi, there are no objectively wrong answers here.
The "right answer" depends on which side has more committed capital to buy shares by the end of the market's time limit.
Early calls receive more shares for the same amount of money, while late entries receive fewer. This means whales can't just dominate with huge bets here; taking a firm stance early trumps all.
When a Cue market resolves, the winning side splits the pool based on share ownership. That means two users can bet the same amount and still earn very different payouts, simply because one entered earlier. No moderators or subjective calls required.
As such, this is an avenue to curate social signals onchain while potentially earning USDC for correct calls. Pretty cool, though certainly still in the experimental phase. If this still sounds intriguing to you, getting started is straightforward — let's walk you through how to make your first call.
Beginning on Cue
- Head to cue.fun/app/markets and get a referral code by tapping the "Get Code from Telegram" button and joining "Cueties testing" group. After you get your code head back to Cue and enter it, then sign in and create an embedded wallet by providing your email address.
- Once you're in, click on the wallet balance tab on the upper right side of the platform to bring up your deposit options, which are "Buy with Card" or "Transfer from Wallet." Use either of these to load your account with Solana USDC.
- Next, on the main "Markets" page you can surf open markets across broad categories like "Trending" or "Following," or zoom into more specific subcategories like Pop Culture, Entertainment, etc. Once you find a market that intrigues you, click on it to bring up its dedicated dashboard. You'll then see a page like so:
- Now to make your call, click on the "No" or "Yes" picture to pick a side, and then choose your stake – you can use preset sums like $1, $5, etc. or enter a custom amount. Then scroll down to review the details. You'll see how much profit you'll make if your call pans out and how much Cue XP you'll earn. Then press "Place Call" to finalize the trade by signing a transaction.
- After this, you'd just wait for the market to settle. You can track this on the dashboard page you just traded through. Also, keep in mind that if you make multiple calls on the platform, you can readily track all your positions' performances from the "My Profile" tab on Cue.
Voila, that's all it takes to start aiming for wins and XP on the platform.
Notably, if you're more interested in creating markets, just click on the "Create a Market" button on the homepage. This will bring up a simple UI where you'd input your desired details, in this order: Market Question, Description, Market Type (Text or Pic vs. Pic), Market Duration, and Cover Image.
The more activity you field to your market the better, as creators earn 3% on any bets made on their markets.
While this clearly sits on the experimental side of things, there are some risks to be aware of. As a small and experimental platform, Cue has non-trivial risks, like volatility, illiquidity, and no guaranteed refunds. Also, Cue is just for opinion markets. The platform explicitly says it's not for "price predictions, political results, or sports results," so you won't find these types of markets here.
In my opinion, Cue is interesting precisely because of its narrow focus on opinions. While traditional prediction markets can feel like casino gambling, opinion markets feel more like a social media mini game with micro stakes. That lighter experience could find an audience as the platform seeks to make a case for a future where opinions with liquid stakes are the norm onchain.