How to Trade Perpetual Futures on Hyperliquid

What you need before you start

Three things: an EVM-compatible wallet (MetaMask, Rabby, Coinbase Wallet, or a Privy social wallet through 10X), USDC on Arbitrum, and about 2 minutes of patience for the first bridge.

You don't need KYC. You don't need to create an account. You don't need a minimum balance. If you have $10 of USDC and a wallet, you can trade.

Step 1: Get USDC on Arbitrum

Hyperliquid settles on its own L1 but deposits come through Arbitrum. If your USDC is on Ethereum mainnet, bridge it to Arbitrum using the official Arbitrum bridge or a fast bridge like Across Protocol.

If you're starting from a centralized exchange, withdraw USDC directly to Arbitrum. Coinbase, Binance, and Bybit all support Arbitrum withdrawals. Saves you the bridge step and usually costs under $1.

Step 2: Connect your wallet

On iPhone, the simplest path is the 10X iOS app. You can also go to trade.10xperps.xyz on desktop or use the 10X mini app in World App. Connect a wallet or sign in with a supported social login.

10X uses Privy embedded wallets so new traders do not need to manage a seed phrase before their first trade. Experienced traders can still think of the app as a cleaner Hyperliquid frontend: same markets, same execution, simpler mobile flow.

Step 3: Deposit USDC

Click deposit, enter the amount, approve the transaction. Deposits typically confirm in under 30 seconds. Your USDC moves from Arbitrum to Hyperliquid's L1, where it becomes your trading collateral.

There's no minimum deposit. $10 works. $10,000 works. The protocol doesn't care.

Step 4: Pick a market and set leverage

Hyperliquid lists 150+ perpetual futures markets. BTC, ETH, SOL, and HYPE are the most liquid. Stocks like AAPL, TSLA, and NVDA trade as perps too.

Set your leverage between 1x (no amplification) and the max for that asset (usually 20x to 50x depending on the market). Higher leverage means higher risk of liquidation. If you're new, start at 3x or 5x.

Step 5: Place your trade

Go long if you think the price goes up. Go short if you think it goes down. Market orders fill instantly. Limit orders sit on the book until your price is hit.

Fees on Hyperliquid are 0.035% for market orders and 0.01% for limit orders at the base tier. That's roughly 10x cheaper than most centralized exchanges. Your trade settles on-chain in under a second.

What happens after you open a position

Three things to watch: your unrealized PnL, your liquidation price, and the funding rate.

Funding is paid every 8 hours. If you're long and funding is positive, you pay shorts. If funding is negative, shorts pay you. The rate depends on how crowded one side of the trade is. Check the funding rate on any market page before you enter.

If the price moves against you enough to hit your liquidation price, Hyperliquid's engine closes your position automatically. You lose your collateral for that position but nothing more. There's no negative balance risk.