Market lifecycle

Pools Markets separates discovery, entry, observation, resolution and payment. A UI countdown is a view of these states; it is not the source of truth.

Lifecycle states

Stage	What happens	User impact
Candidate	The engine evaluates an asset, question and risk	Not yet open for entry
Open	The market rules are frozen and positions are accepted	Users can enter an outcome
Locked	The entry deadline has passed	No new positions
Settling	Finalized evidence is being collected and verified	Existing positions remain pending
Resolved	One named outcome is final	Winning positions are payable
Void	The rules require cancellation or cannot produce a valid result	Principal is refundable
Complete	The winning amount or refund has been processed	Position is complete

Time fields

Several timestamps can exist for one market:

entry close — when new positions stop;
observation start/end — the exact measurement window;
resolution target — when evidence is expected to become available;
finalized at — when the verified result becomes final;
paid at — when payout or refund completes.

The UI must not replace an expired countdown with a new duration. Once entry time reaches zero, the market moves to Locked or Settling and displays that state until a terminal result is available.

After entry closes

Closing a market and resolving it are separate steps. A market can remain in Settling while the required observation becomes final or while evidence is verified. The position must keep this state instead of starting a new countdown or implying that entry has reopened.