How to trade perpetual futures on Hyperliquid
Pick a market, choose Long or Short, set your margin mode and leverage, enter a size and order type, then place the order. Add a stop loss straight away, because leveraged positions are liquidated automatically if your margin runs out.
Quick steps
- Choose a market. Use the token selector at the top left, e.g. BTC-USD.
- Set margin mode and leverage. Click the Cross/Isolated and leverage buttons above the order form. Lower leverage gives you more room before liquidation.
- Pick an order type. Market fills now at the best available price; Limit waits for your price; Pro offers stop, scale, TWAP and more.
- Choose Long or Short and size. Long profits if the price rises, Short if it falls. Position size = margin × leverage.
- Add TP/SL. Tick TP/SL to attach a take profit and stop loss before you submit.
- Place and monitor. Click Place Order. Watch your liquidation price, unrealised PnL and funding in the Positions tab.
What a perpetual future is
A perpetual future ("perp") is a contract that follows an asset's price without expiring. You never own the coin. You post USDC as margin and gain or lose based on the price move multiplied by your position size. Because a perp never expires, a funding rate keeps its price close to the spot price.
Order types
| Order | What it does | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Market | Fills immediately at the best available prices. | When getting in or out matters more than price. You pay the taker fee. |
| Limit | Fills only at your price or better. | When you want price control. If it rests on the book you pay the lower maker fee. |
| Stop Market / Stop Limit | Becomes a market or limit order when the price reaches your trigger. | Cutting losses or entering on a breakout. |
| Take Market / Take Limit | A trigger order on the profit side. | Locking in gains at a target. |
| Scale | Spreads several limit orders across a price range. | Building or exiting a position gradually. |
| TWAP | Splits a large order into suborders over 5 minutes to 7 days, with a maximum slippage of 3% per suborder. | Large orders you do not want to push the price with. |
| Trailing Stop | A stop that follows the mark price at a set distance. | Protecting gains in a trend (perps only). |
Useful options: Reduce Only (can only shrink a position), Post Only (ALO) (never takes liquidity, so you always pay maker fees), IOC (cancels whatever does not fill immediately) and GTC (rests until filled or cancelled). The minimum order value is $10.
Take profit and stop loss
TP/SL orders trigger on the mark price, not the last traded price. By default they execute as market orders with up to 10% slippage allowed, so in a fast market your fill can be worse than the trigger. You can set a limit price instead, at the risk of not being filled. A TP/SL set from the position covers the whole position by default. More in TP/SL strategies.
Leverage and margin modes
Initial margin is position size × mark price ÷ leverage. A $1,000 position at 10x needs $100 of margin. Maximum leverage depends on the asset and position size: up to 40x on BTC, 25x on ETH, and 10x or lower on many smaller assets.
- Cross margin (default): your whole balance backs all cross positions. A losing position can draw on your other funds before it is liquidated, but it can also drain them.
- Isolated margin: only the margin you assign to that position is at risk. You can add or remove margin manually.
- Strict isolated: like isolated, but margin cannot be removed while the position is open.
You are liquidated when your account value falls below maintenance margin, which is half of the initial margin at the asset's maximum leverage. The liquidation calculator shows where that sits for your trade, and margin and leverage goes deeper.
At 10x leverage, a price move of less than 10% against you can trigger liquidation, because you are liquidated once losses eat into the maintenance margin. Most beginners lose money with high leverage. Start small, use low leverage and always set a stop loss.
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Open HyperliquidReading the order book
The order book shows resting bids (buy orders, in green) below the price and asks (sell orders, in red) above it. The gap between the best bid and best ask is the spread. The size column shows how much is available at each level. A thin book means a large market order will "walk the book" and fill at progressively worse prices. That is slippage. Check the depth before sending a big market order, or use a limit or TWAP order instead. The trades panel next to it shows recent fills.
Funding
Funding is paid every hour between longs and shorts. Hyperliquid takes no cut. When the perp trades above the oracle price, the rate is usually positive and longs pay shorts; when it trades below, shorts pay longs. The rate includes a fixed interest component of 0.01% per 8 hours (paid in hourly slices) plus a premium that is sampled every 5 seconds. It is capped at 4% per hour. Funding is small per hour but adds up on positions held for days. See funding rates.
Fees
New accounts pay 0.045% taker and 0.015% maker on perps, with lower tiers based on your 14-day volume. HYPE staking and a referral code reduce this. Full details are in Hyperliquid fees.
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum trade size on Hyperliquid?
Orders must have a minimum value of $10. With leverage, the margin you post can be lower than that.
Should I use cross or isolated margin?
Isolated is easier to reason about for beginners because only the margin you assign to a trade is at risk. Cross is more capital-efficient but lets one losing position eat into your whole balance.
Why did my stop loss fill below my trigger price?
TP/SL orders trigger on the mark price and execute as market orders by default, with up to 10% slippage allowed. In a fast or thin market, the fill can be worse than the trigger.
How often is funding paid on Hyperliquid?
Every hour. It is paid directly between long and short traders, and Hyperliquid takes no fee from it.