User Accounts and Yokefellow Market Basics

User Accounts and Yokefellow Market Basics

Yokefellow uses wallets, user accounts, personal buckets, and market balances together.

That can feel different from a normal exchange or a normal website account. This guide explains the basic account model, why users may need to deposit into their personal bucket before making market orders, and what kinds of wallet confirmations or signatures may appear during market activity.

Wallets and user accountsCopy link

Your wallet is the account you control directly.

Yokefellow can read your connected wallet, show wallet-linked activity, and let you sign actions from that wallet.

A Yokefellow user account is the platform-facing record connected to that wallet. It may include things like your profile, nickname, public activity, personal bucket state, and platform interactions.

The simple version is:

Wallet = your self-custody account
Yokefellow profile = your public platform identity
Personal bucket = your account-side Yokefellow bucket

These pieces work together, but they are not the same thing.

What the personal bucket isCopy link

A personal bucket is the Yokefellow account-side bucket connected to a user.

It lets the platform track value that is inside Yokefellow’s bucket system instead of only sitting loose in the wallet.

That matters for market activity because maker orders need committed funds. If a user wants to post an order, the platform needs to know the tokens are available and can be reserved for that order.

That is why users may need to deposit into their personal bucket before making orders on the market.

Wallet balance versus personal bucket balanceCopy link

A wallet balance is what your wallet holds directly.

A personal bucket balance is value that has been deposited into your Yokefellow account-side bucket.

Wallet YES = YES held directly in your wallet
Wallet USDC = USDC held directly in your wallet
Personal bucket YES = YES deposited into your Yokefellow account bucket
Personal bucket USDC = USDC deposited into your Yokefellow account bucket

The market may use these balances differently depending on the action.

Why makers use the personal bucketCopy link

A maker is someone who posts an order to the market.

For example:

• “I want to sell this much YES at this price.”
• “I want to buy this much YES with USDC at this price.”

A maker order needs funds behind it. The order should not pretend funds are available if the user can move those same funds away before the order is filled.

That is why maker-side funds are handled through the personal bucket and reserved when needed.

Deposit into personal bucket
→ post order
→ funds are reserved
→ order waits for a taker

This keeps the order real.

What a taker doesCopy link

A taker fills an existing order.

For example, if someone has already posted an order to sell YES, another user may take that order by spending USDC.

A taker action can use funds from either place, depending on the selected flow:

Wallet source = tokens come directly from the connected wallet
Personal bucket source = tokens come from the user's Yokefellow personal bucket

That matters because the user should know where the payment is coming from before confirming the action.

Maker = posts an order
Taker = fills an existing order

The taker still needs to review the wallet confirmation and understand what they are giving, what they are receiving, and whether the source is their wallet or their personal bucket.

The main market actionsCopy link

Yokefellow market users may see several different actions.

The most important ones are:

• deposit
• withdraw
• post order
• take order
• cancel order

Each one has a different meaning.

DepositCopy link

A deposit moves YES or USDC from your wallet into your Yokefellow personal bucket.

This is usually needed before making market orders.

A deposit may involve a wallet transaction because tokens are moving from your wallet into the Yokefellow bucket system.

After depositing, the platform may need a moment to refresh and show the updated personal bucket balance.

Wallet token balance decreases
Personal bucket balance increases

WithdrawCopy link

A withdraw moves available funds from your personal bucket back to your wallet.

Withdrawals only apply to available funds.

If funds are reserved in an open market order, they may not be withdrawable until the order is filled, canceled, or otherwise released.

Available personal bucket balance
→ withdraw
→ wallet balance increases

Post orderCopy link

Posting an order creates a market offer.

A sell order offers YES for USDC.

A buy order offers USDC for YES.

When posting an order, the user may need to sign an order message. This signature proves the user authorized the order terms.

Posting an order may also require the relevant funds to be available in the personal bucket so they can be reserved.

Choose side
Choose amount
Choose price
Sign order
Order appears on the market
Funds may be reserved

An order signature is not the same thing as blindly sending tokens. It is a signed authorization for specific market terms.

Take orderCopy link

Taking an order fills an existing market order.

The taker chooses an available order and confirms the fill. Depending on the selected source, the taker payment may come directly from the connected wallet or from the user's personal bucket balance.

A wallet-source taker flow may require wallet-side approval or transaction confirmation because the token is coming directly from the wallet.

A personal-bucket-source taker flow uses value already deposited into the user's Yokefellow personal bucket, so the user should check that the needed amount is available there.

The important thing is to review:

• what token you are giving
• whether the token is coming from your wallet or personal bucket
• what token you are receiving
• where the received token will go
• the amount
• the price
• any fee
• the network gas

Choose existing order
Choose wallet source or personal bucket source
Review received amount
Sign or confirm fill
Submit transaction if required
Trade settles

Cancel orderCopy link

Canceling an order removes an open order from the market.

If funds were reserved for that order, cancellation should release the unused reserved amount back into available personal bucket balance.

A cancel action may require a wallet confirmation or signature depending on how the order was posted and how cancellation is handled.

Open order
→ cancel
→ order closes
→ unused reserved funds become available again

Signatures and transactionsCopy link

Users may see both signatures and transactions.

They are not the same thing.

Signature = wallet approval of a message or instruction
Transaction = onchain action submitted to the network

A signature may be used to prove that you authorized an order, fill intent, login, profile update, or other platform action.

A transaction is used when something needs to happen onchain, such as moving tokens, depositing, withdrawing, or settling a trade.

Both matter. Read what the wallet is asking you to approve.

Common signature momentsCopy link

Yokefellow users may be asked to sign when they:

• connect or prove wallet ownership
• set or update a profile nickname
• post a market order
• fill an order
• cancel an order
• authorize a platform action that needs wallet approval

A signature should match what you are trying to do.

If a signature request appears unexpectedly, stop and check the page and action before signing.

Common transaction momentsCopy link

Yokefellow users may see transactions when they:

• approve token spending if required
• deposit YES or USDC
• withdraw YES or USDC
• fill a market order
• cancel through an onchain path if required
• perform another chain-backed action

Transactions may include network gas.

Gas is charged by the Base network, not by Yokefellow.

Total, available, and reservedCopy link

Personal bucket market balances use three main states.

Total means the full amount currently held in your personal bucket for that token.

Available means the part of that balance that is free to use, post with, take with, or withdraw.

Reserved means the part of that balance already committed to an open market order or pending market action.

Total = full personal bucket balance
Available = free to use or withdraw
Reserved = committed to an open order or pending action

This matters because a user may have tokens in their personal bucket but still not be able to use or withdraw all of them.

For example, if a user posts a sell order using YES from their personal bucket, that YES may become reserved while the order is open. If the order is canceled, the unused reserved YES should become available again.

Spent is not a personal bucket balance state. Spent belongs to public bucket participation accounting, where value has already moved through a bucket’s participation path.

Buying YES on the marketCopy link

A basic buy flow looks like this:

1. Connect your wallet.
2. Make sure you are on Base.
3. Make sure you have USDC available.
4. Decide whether you are taking an existing sell order or posting your own buy order.
5. If posting a buy order, deposit USDC into your personal bucket first.
6. If taking an existing sell order, choose whether the USDC source is your wallet or your personal bucket.
7. Review the YES/USDC market.
8. Review the price, amount, fee, and gas.
9. Sign or confirm the required action.
10. Wait for the platform state to update.
11. Check your YES balance afterward.

Taking an existing order may be faster.

Posting your own order may wait until another user fills it.

Selling YES on the marketCopy link

A basic sell flow looks like this:

1. Connect your wallet.
2. Make sure you are on Base.
3. Make sure you have YES available.
4. Decide whether you are taking an existing buy order or posting your own sell order.
5. If posting a sell order, deposit YES into your personal bucket first.
6. If taking an existing buy order, choose whether the YES source is your wallet or your personal bucket.
7. Review the YES/USDC market.
8. Review the price, amount, fee, and gas.
9. Sign or confirm the required action.
10. Wait for the platform state to update.
11. Check your USDC balance afterward.

Selling depends on available buyers and market liquidity.

Market fees and gasCopy link

Market activity may involve both Yokefellow fees and Base network gas.

Market fee = Yokefellow fee on market activity
Network gas = Base transaction cost

These are separate.

The wallet confirmation should show the network action. The platform screen should show the market action.

Review both.

Liquidity mattersCopy link

The market can exist even when liquidity is limited.

Liquidity means there are enough available orders for users to trade without difficulty.

If liquidity is thin:

• an order may not fill quickly
• only part of an amount may be available
• the available price may not be what the user expected
• a posted order may sit open

Market activity is not guaranteed.

What to check before a market actionCopy link

Before confirming a market action, check:

• the wallet is on Base
• the connected wallet is correct
• the token symbols are YES and USDC
• the side is correct: buy or sell
• the amount is correct
• the price is correct
• the source of funds is correct
• the destination is correct
• any fee makes sense
• gas is acceptable
• the wallet request matches the action

Do not rush wallet confirmations.

What to check after a market actionCopy link

After a market action, check:

• the transaction or signature completed
• the order appeared, filled, or canceled as expected
• wallet balances changed as expected
• personal bucket balances changed as expected
• total, available, and reserved balances make sense
• recent market activity updated if shown

Some platform displays may take a little time to refresh after a confirmed transaction.

How this fits with bucketsCopy link

The market supports Yokefellow, but it is not the whole platform.

YES can move through wallets, personal buckets, market orders, public buckets, offerings, apps, and outputs.

The market helps YES move. Buckets give participation context. Offerings define structured paths. NFTs and rights may carry outputs from those paths.

That is the larger system.

Current guidesCopy link

Start here:

• Getting Started with Yokefellow
• What is Yes?
• How to Add YES to Your Wallet
• What is a bucket?
• Bucket Deposits, Captured Deposits, and Bucket Credit
• NFT's, Rights, and Redemption
• Posts, Briefs, Updates, Policies, and Proof

More guides will be added as Yokefellow fills out.