TWAP and scale orders on Hyperliquid

Quick steps

1. Choose TWAP or Scale in the order form. Both are available in the order type menu on Hyperliquid's trade page.
2. For TWAP, set size and running time. Minimum total is $100 and running time is 5 minutes to 7 days. Optionally randomise suborder size and add trigger or stop prices.
3. For Scale, set the range and number of orders. Enter start and end prices, total size and order count; check the average entry shown.
4. Add protection. Plan a stop loss for the full intended size, since you may end up with only part of it.
5. Monitor fills. Watch the TWAP progress or open scale orders and cancel if conditions change.

How TWAP works on Hyperliquid

From the official docs:

• Suborders are sent every 30 seconds. Running time is 5 minutes to 7 days, with a $100 minimum total size.
• Each suborder has a maximum slippage of 3%.
• If suborders do not fully fill, later suborders try to catch up, but are capped at 3 times the normal suborder size. The order may finish without being fully filled.
• Options: randomise each suborder's size by up to ±20%, a trigger price that starts the TWAP and a max/min price that stops it.
• Suborders do not fill during the post-only period of a network upgrade.

The docs' example: a $10,000 TWAP over one hour becomes about 121 suborders of about $83, one every 30 seconds.

TWAP cost example

TWAP suborders take liquidity from the book, so budget the taker fee. At the base tier, $10,000 × 0.045% = $4.50. The benefit is lower market impact: on a thin market a single $10,000 market order might walk the book by more than that, while $83 pieces mostly fill at the top of the book. On BTC or ETH, where $10,000 barely touches the book, a TWAP mostly adds time risk. Compare costs with the fee calculator.

How scale orders work

A scale order places multiple limit orders across a price range in one step. If they rest on the book and get filled by others, they pay the maker rate instead of the taker rate.

Hypothetical: you want $10,000 of an asset trading at $100 and ladder five $2,000 buy orders at $98, $96, $94, $92 and $90.

The same $10,000 as a single market order would pay $4.50 in taker fees plus any slippage. The trade-off is fill risk: scale orders fill most completely when price moves against you, and least when it moves your way.

Which to use

• TWAP when you must get the full size done within a time window and the market is thin relative to your size, for example exiting a large position in a small-cap perp.
• Scale when you have a price zone in mind and accept missing the trade if price never reaches it.
• Scale out with reduce-only limit orders to take profit in steps without risk of flipping the position.

Risks and pitfalls

• A TWAP keeps buying into a falling market unless you set a max/min price to stop it.
• A 3% slippage cap per suborder is wide on a thin market; many small 3% slips add up.
• Your position is building over time, so the liquidation price and margin use change as it fills. Recheck with the liquidation calculator.
• Order TP/SL attached to a parent order only activates when the parent fully fills, so partially filled ladders need a separate stop. See TP/SL orders.

Frequently asked questions