RUNG IS NOT YOUR COUNTERPARTY
The protocol never takes the opposite side of your bet. Your position is matched against players in the other pool: the YES pool pays NO winners, the NO pool pays YES winners.

No house. If you bet YES, your counterparty is the NO players: their pool funds your winnings, and vice versa. RUNG never takes a position and charges its 2% protocol fee only from the losing pool after settlement.
The protocol never takes the opposite side of your bet. Your position is matched against players in the other pool: the YES pool pays NO winners, the NO pool pays YES winners.
The protocol fee is charged once a market settles, exclusively from the losing pool. Winners always receive their stake back plus their share of the losing pool minus the fee. Nothing is taken from winners.
Whichever barrier is proven first decides the side. If a side has no players at settlement, or neither barrier is proven by expiry, the market voids and every stake is refunded in full.