1. Preparation: Wallet & Funds
Before you start, you'll need an EVM-compatible wallet and some USDC to use as trading collateral.
Supported Wallets
- MetaMask — the most popular browser extension wallet, recommended for beginners
- WalletConnect — a universal protocol to connect mobile wallets
- Trust Wallet / Coinbase Wallet — popular mobile options
- Ledger / Trezor — hardware wallets for larger holdings
- Email login — Hyperliquid can auto-generate an on-chain wallet, ideal for absolute beginners
Make sure your wallet seed phrase is safely backed up, and that you hold enough native tokens (e.g. ETH) to pay for bridge gas.
2. Connect Your Wallet
Open the Hyperliquid app, click Connect Wallet in the top-right corner, select your wallet from the list and approve the connection.
On first connection your wallet will ask you to sign a message proving ownership of the address. This does not broadcast any on-chain transaction and costs no gas.
3. Enter Referral Code ZIYOU
After connecting, click your avatar in the top-right to open Settings, find the Referral section,
and enter ZIYOU in the referral code field to bind it.
- Once bound, your trades generate rebates, lowering your effective trading cost
- Referral codes usually cannot be changed once bound — we recommend binding before your first deposit
- Your referrer also earns a share of your trading fees
4. Deposit USDC
Hyperliquid uses USDC as trading collateral. Click Bridge on the page and use the native bridge (powered by deBridge) to move USDC in from any of these chains:
- Ethereum mainnet
- Arbitrum (recommended — low gas, fast)
- Optimism (recommended — low gas)
- Base
- Solana
Flow: pick source chain → select USDC → enter amount → confirm the wallet transaction → wait for settlement (usually 2–10 minutes).
5. The Trading Interface
Once deposited, the trading page has these core areas:
- Pair selector — switch between BTC, ETH, SOL and other perpetual/spot pairs
- Price chart — multi-timeframe with technical indicators
- Order book — real-time bid/ask depth
- Order panel — set leverage, order type, size and price
- Positions / Assets — view open positions, unrealized PnL and margin ratio
6. Order Types Explained
Hyperliquid offers a full suite of professional order types:
- Market — fills immediately at the best available price, for fast entry
- Limit — rests at a specified price and only fills when reached; acts as a maker for lower fees
- Stop Loss — automatically closes the position when price hits the stop level, capping losses
- Take Profit — automatically closes when price reaches the target, locking in gains
- TWAP — time-weighted average price order that splits a large order into smaller slices to reduce market impact
- Scale — automatically distributes multiple limit orders across a price range
7. Leverage & Margin Modes
- Up to 50x leverage — perpetuals support up to 50x, magnifying both gains and risk
- Isolated margin — each position uses its own margin; losses are confined to that position, ideal for controlling per-trade risk
- Cross margin — all positions share the account's margin for higher capital efficiency, but a loss in one position can affect others
Beginners should start with low leverage (2–5x) + isolated margin and always set a stop loss.
8. Risk Management
- Set a stop loss — every trade should have a stop loss to keep single-trade losses within your tolerance
- Watch the liquidation price — shown after opening a position; add margin or reduce size before price gets close
- Understand funding — perpetuals settle funding every 8 hours between longs and shorts to keep price anchored to spot
- Size your positions — never commit all your margin to a single position; leave a buffer for volatility
- Avoid holding high leverage overnight — high leverage is prone to liquidation during sharp moves
9. The HYPE Token & Staking
HYPE is Hyperliquid's native token. Its main uses:
- Fee discounts — staking HYPE unlocks trading fee discounts
- Governance — vote on Hyperliquid protocol parameters
- Staking yield — stakers receive a share of protocol revenue
10. Yield Vaults
If you'd rather not trade yourself, you can deposit USDC into Hyperliquid's Vaults, where on-chain-verified professional strategies manage your funds for passive yield.
- All vault operations are on-chain and transparent, with verifiable profit distribution
- You can deposit and withdraw at any time (some vaults may have lock-up periods)
- Historical performance is shown in the UI — note that past performance does not guarantee future returns
11. Troubleshooting
- Deposit not arriving — cross-chain transfers need source-chain confirmations, usually 2–10 minutes; check the bridge page for status if delayed
- Wallet won't connect — try refreshing the page or switching networks; make sure your wallet is unlocked and approved
- Order won't fill — check if your limit price is far from the current market, or if you have enough margin
- Withdrawals — go to the wallet page, choose withdraw, enter the destination chain address and amount, and confirm; withdrawals also go through the native bridge