Frequently Asked Questions

TrendWars is a virtual stock market where you trade shares in real internet trends. Trends are pulled from Reddit, YouTube, Google Trends, Twitter/X, TikTok, and Know Your Meme. Prices update every 15 minutes based on how much buzz each trend generates online. It's 100% free and uses virtual currency only.

Yes, completely free. No credit card, no subscription, no in-app purchases. You trade with Trend Dollars (T$), our virtual currency that has no real-world value.

Every new account receives T$1,000 in Trend Dollars to start trading immediately.

Browse the Exchange, click any trend to view its detail page, then use the Buy or Sell form. Enter the number of shares you want and confirm. Your balance updates instantly.

Going long (buying) means you buy shares expecting the price to rise. You profit when you sell at a higher price than you paid.

Going short means you're betting the price will fall. You put up collateral equal to the current share price. If the price drops, you profit when you cover (close) the short. Your maximum loss is limited to the collateral you posted — you can never go into debt.

Every trade (buy, sell, short open, short close) incurs a fee of 1.5% of the trade value or T$3, whichever is greater. Fees are deducted automatically from the trade total.

Yes, the maximum is 10,000 shares per trade. You can place multiple trades if you need more.

Our spiders continuously scan six major sources: Reddit (hot posts), YouTube (trending videos), Google Trends (rising searches), Twitter/X (trending topics), TikTok (trending hashtags), and Know Your Meme (trending memes). New trends appear on the Exchange automatically.

Prices recalculate every 15 minutes. Each update factors in fresh engagement data from all six sources. A trend generating more buzz will see its price rise; fading trends drop.

Trends that lose all momentum are marked as dead and delisted from the Exchange. When a trend dies, all open positions (long and short) are automatically closed at the final price. You receive whatever the shares were worth at time of death.

Your Total Value = cash balance (Trend Dollars) + the market value of all your open positions. Long positions are valued at current share price × shares held. Short positions factor in your entry price vs current price.

The Leaderboard ranks all traders by Total Value (cash + portfolio). It updates in real time as prices change.

Achievements are permanent badges you earn for trading milestones — your first trade, profitable exits, building wealth, referring friends, surviving a crash, and more. Check your progress on the Achievements page.

If your balance drops below T$10 and you have no open positions worth enough to recover, you can declare bankruptcy. This resets your balance to T$1,000, clears all holdings and transaction history, and gives you a fresh start. Use it wisely — there's an achievement for going bankrupt, but also one for coming back from the brink.

No. TrendWars is a game for entertainment purposes only. Trend Dollars have no real-world value and cannot be exchanged for real money. This is not financial advice, and no real securities are involved.