Frequently asked questions

StarTrader is a simulated player stock market built on top of real sports. You buy and sell shares of real athletes using StarCoins, compete in leagues against friends, and build a portfolio whose value rises and falls with real-world performance. It's free to start. No real money is ever at risk.

No. StarTrader uses StarCoins, a virtual in-platform currency. StarCoins can be purchased but have no cash value outside the platform and cannot be withdrawn as cash. You're trading simulated shares in a fantasy market; it's a competitive game, not a financial product.

Sign up for a free account, add some StarCoins to your wallet (or earn your first ones through daily logins), create a personal trading account, and make your first buy. You can also jump directly into a league if a friend has invited you.

Nope. StarTrader is designed to be accessible to anyone who follows sports. The concepts (buy low, sell high, hold for the long term) map naturally to how you already think about players. The more advanced features (limit orders, portfolio diversification, tax optimization) are there when you're ready for them.

StarTrader currently supports NFL, NBA, and MLB. More sports and leagues are added over time.

StarCoins (SC) are StarTrader's virtual currency. You use them to buy player shares, fund league accounts, and access platform features. They're earned through gameplay and can also be purchased in the app. StarCoins cannot be converted back to cash.

Log in daily (your streak multiplier increases over time), earn them through strong league performance, or invite friends with your referral link. Plus, Pro, and Elite subscribers also receive a monthly stipend deposited automatically on the 1st of every month: 200 SC for Plus, 500 SC for Pro, and 2,000 SC for Elite.

Your wallet is your central StarCoin balance. Trading accounts (personal or league) are funded from your wallet. Think of them as separate pots you allocate to specific competitive contexts. StarCoins don't leave your wallet until you fund an account.

StarCoins you purchase go into your wallet and can be used to fund any of your trading accounts. League accounts are locked for competition until the season ends, funds there aren't moveable until the season settles. StarCoins are an in-platform currency and have no cash value outside the platform.

No. StarCoins in your wallet and accounts don't expire.

Prices are driven by a combination of real-world performance (stats, game results, projections), news and sentiment (injuries, trades, depth chart changes), and market demand (how many other traders are buying or selling). The system is designed so that player prices reflect genuine athletic value, not just hype.

Yes. Every tier, including Free, sees live real-time prices as the market moves. There is no delayed data on any plan.

A market order fills immediately at whatever the current price is. A limit order lets you specify the exact price you want, and your trade only executes if the market reaches that level. Available to Pro and Elite subscribers.

ETFs are bundled positions that give you exposure to a group of players, like an entire team, a position group (e.g., NFL Wide Receivers), or a division. They're a way to diversify without picking individual players, and they're available at all subscription tiers.

IPOs are coming soon and aren't live yet. The plan: when a new player joins the platform (a highly anticipated rookie, an in-season trade acquisition), they'll debut through an IPO (Initial Player Offering). Free users won't have IPO access, Pro users will get standard access, and Elite users will get priority access (an earlier window and a better share allocation).

There's no explicit per-user cap on share ownership, but float size naturally limits how concentrated any single trader can become. In thin-float players (limited edition, rookies), buying too aggressively can move the price against you.

Elite users can place resting limit orders that add liquidity to the market rather than consuming it. This gives them execution advantages in certain market conditions, particularly on large positions or in less liquid player markets.

Taxes are one of StarTrader's core strategic mechanics. They reward patience (long-term holders pay less), create an upgrade incentive (higher tiers have lower rates), and add a commissioner meta-game in leagues. They're what separate StarTrader from a simple fantasy game.

Taxes aren't collected on every trade. They accrue as a running liability and settle on Tax Day, which is tied to your league's season structure. Your accrued liability is always visible in your account so you know what's coming.

Short-term applies to positions you sell within 30 days of buying. Long-term applies to positions held for 30+ days. Long-term rates are roughly half the short-term rate, which is a strong incentive to hold your winners rather than flipping quickly.

Your account balance goes to zero and your accrued liability is cleared. You'll need to add more StarCoins to your account before you can continue trading. Your accrued liability is shown prominently in your dashboard, so check it regularly.

Your effective tax rate is a weighted average of your subscription history over the past 12 months, not just your current tier. This prevents gaming the system by temporarily upgrading to Elite right before Tax Day. Consistently staying on a higher tier is what lowers your effective rate over time.

Yes, inside a league. Commissioners can set league-wide tax rates above or below the platform baseline (capped at 50%). If the commissioner sets rates below baseline, the difference accrues as a deferred liability that settles at Tax Day. If above baseline, the excess flows into the league's prize pot.

Tax Day is the scheduled date when your accumulated tax liability gets collected. For single-sport leagues it defaults to the day after the sport's championship game. Multi-sport and continuous leagues require the commissioner to set it manually. Tax Day locks once the season starts, with a 7-day window after it fires to update the date for next year.

From the Leagues section, tap "Create League." You'll name your league, choose its format (head-to-head or cumulative), pick a scoring mode (yield, investment, or total return), set its sport(s), configure tax rates, and choose how the league pays out. The defaults are head-to-head and yield, the setup that plays most like the fantasy sports you already know. Once you've invited members and everyone has funded their league accounts, you can start the season.

Stick with yield, the default. Your players earn real fantasy points from their games, and those points convert directly into your score, the closest thing on StarTrader to the fantasy football or basketball scoring you already know. Investment mode is a different experience: it scores on portfolio value alone, closer to actually trading stocks. Try investment or total return once you've got a season or two under your belt.

Commissioners are the league operators. They invite members, set league rules (format, scoring, tax rates, season dates, payout structure, roster rules), and manage the season. The commissioner's subscription tier also determines the maximum league size.

Head-to-head leagues give each member a different opponent every week, fantasy-style, and can layer in all-play scoring (comparing everyone against the whole league as a tiebreaker, primary method, or against the median). Cumulative leagues skip matchups entirely. Everyone just competes on a single running leaderboard all season.

The commissioner picks the payout structure when they create the league: winner takes all, a winner percentage with the rest staying with members, a top-N split, everyone keeps their own holdings (no transfer), an automatic threshold reset, or a manual close where the commissioner decides at the time. Not every league transfers assets. Some run purely for standings and bragging rights.

Transferred positions carry the original owner's cost basis, which is the price they originally paid. Your 30-day hold clock starts fresh from the transfer date. When you eventually sell, you owe taxes on the difference between the sale price and the original cost basis, at whatever rate applies based on how long you held it after receiving it.

Yes. The number of league accounts you can have active simultaneously depends on your tier: Free = 2, Plus = 3, Pro = 5, Elite = unlimited.

The excess above the platform rate flows into a league prize pot. The commissioner configures how that pot is distributed at season's end: the full pot to the top finisher or a tiered split (e.g., 60/30/10). The platform still collects its standard rate; only the excess goes to the pot.

If a member's tax bill exceeds their account balance on Tax Day, their account goes to zero and the liability is cleared. They'll need to top up before continuing to participate. Commissioners and other members can see member balances in the league hub.

Both are commissioner choices made at league creation. Commissioners can allow members to trade team and index ETFs in the league, and can set the scoring mode to yield or a custom blend of yield and price appreciation instead of pure portfolio value.

Free users get 2 personal accounts, 2 league accounts, 10 trades per day, market orders only, a 1% trade fee, real-time market data, no IPO access, and portfolio P&L and history. It's a fully functional experience. You can play, compete in leagues of up to 10 members, and earn StarCoins through daily logins and gameplay.

Plus gets you 3 personal and 3 league accounts, leagues up to 12 members, 25 trades per day, a 0.5% trade fee (half of Free's), an ad-free experience, and a 200 SC monthly stipend. It's a light upgrade for players who want a bit more room without jumping all the way to Pro.

The biggest wins are: zero trade fees, limit orders, 50 trades/day, a 500 SC monthly stipend, and meaningfully lower tax rates (plus IPO access once that feature launches). If you're trading actively or competing in leagues seriously, Pro pays for itself quickly.

Elite is for power users: unlimited accounts, unlimited trades, maker-privilege order types, a 2,000 SC monthly stipend, a 2× daily login multiplier, the lowest tax rates on the platform, and unlimited watchlists (plus priority IPO access once that feature launches).

It affects your rate immediately for new positions, but your effective rate is a 12-month rolling average. If you've been on Free for 11 months and upgrade to Elite in month 12, your effective rate for that year won't be as low as someone who's been Elite all along. Commit to a tier and stick with it to maximize the benefit.

Yes. Downgrading takes effect at your next billing cycle. Your accrued tax history stays intact. If you have more accounts or league memberships than your new tier allows, you'll need to close the excess accounts before downgrading.

Check the Pricing page for current trial offers, as these change periodically.