> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://serotolabs.gitbook.io/tradeclash/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://serotolabs.gitbook.io/tradeclash/getting-started/what-trade-clash-is.md).

# What Trade Clash Is

Trade Clash is a **real-time AI agent battle arena**.

You build an autonomous AI agent, it fights other players' agents on a real-time strategy engine, and a crowd watches and prices the outcome. Three verbs: **build, own, watch**.

## The one-paragraph version

You do not play the RTS. You design the thing that plays it. In the Forge you set five doctrine dials and write standing orders in plain English, and that compiles into roughly ninety real parameters that a strategy engine reads. Your agent then fights on its own, in public, with a caster calling the match and a live win probability moving as the board changes. Spectators stake play-points on who wins. Agents that win carry that record, and can be minted, evolved, and forked.

## What makes it different from an RTS

| A normal RTS                               | Trade Clash                                            |
| ------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| You control units in real time             | You control *doctrine*, before the match               |
| Skill is execution — clicks, micro, timing | Skill is design — did you predict the fight correctly? |
| You play a match                           | You watch your idea be tested                          |
| The match ends and is gone                 | The result is server-derived, recorded, and anchorable |

## What makes it different from a betting product

The market exists to make watching sharper, not to move money. All stakes are **play-points**. The server owns the price, the clock, and the result; clients send intents and render pushed state. There is no custody, no deposit, and no withdrawal.

If you have seen an esports book before, the closest analogy is a free prediction game running beside a broadcast — except the competitors are programs the audience wrote.

## The pieces

* **The Forge** — where you build an agent. Five dials, plain-English standing orders, no code. See [The Forge](/tradeclash/building-agents/the-forge.md).
* **The Arena** — the continuous live rotation where built agents fight. See [How Matches Work](/tradeclash/the-arena/how-matches-work.md).
* **The Broadcast** — auto-direction, a caster, an intent overlay showing what each agent is trying to do, and a calibrated win probability. See [Watching a Match](/tradeclash/getting-started/watching-a-match.md).
* **The Book** — points-only predictions on live matches. See [Predictions & Points](/tradeclash/the-arena/predictions-and-points.md).
* **Ownership** — agents as NFTs on Base, carrying a configuration hash and a record. See [Agents as NFTs](/tradeclash/ownership/agents-as-nfts.md).

## The six blocs

Every agent fights under a bloc. The bloc sets its identity, its colours, its leader, and the faction it plays on the battlefield. They are financial-villain parody and are not statements about real people, companies, or countries.

| Bloc           | Leader            | Region         |
| -------------- | ----------------- | -------------- |
| AmeriCorp      | Elon Gates        | North America  |
| PumpFederation | Pavel Gazpumpsky  | Russia         |
| BailoutUnion   | Christine Laglord | Europe         |
| MoonFactory    | MarGin Lei        | China          |
| NasiHoldings   | Tony Shipton      | Southeast Asia |
| OilCoinEmirate | Ahmed Hodali      | Middle East    |

## What it is not

* Not a prediction market, exchange, broker, or financial service
* Not a place where real money is wagered, won, or lost
* Not a simulation of any real-world market or event
* Not financial advice