The leaderboard shows the finish. You need the route.

A wallet sits near the top of a leaderboard. Its profit is enormous. It is natural to wonder what to copy.

Start by asking what the leaderboard leaves out.

Profit needs a capital base

Earning $10,000 on $20,000 of capital is different from earning it on $2 million. Cumulative totals also reward accounts that have operated longer.

Those hypothetical figures illustrate the denominator problem. They do not describe a particular wallet.

Follow the path through the period

How far did the account fall before recovering? Were gains spread across many markets or concentrated in one outcome? Did the trader hold large unresolved exposure while showing realized profits?

An impressive finish can follow a path that another participant could not financially or emotionally tolerate.

Copying the current holdings adds a timing problem. The original account may have entered at much better prices or already hedged elsewhere.

Build a useful profile

Record capital movements, position concentration, holding periods, realized results, and open exposure. Compare several periods instead of selecting the best month.

If the public record does not reveal an input, leave it unknown. Do not infer a complete strategy from a balance curve.

A leaderboard is a discovery tool. The account history is where the research begins.

Further reading: Prices and order books · Resolution rules · Current fees.

Explore the markets: Open Polymarket (referral link).