Hyperliquid spot trading guide
Verified against Hyperliquid docs: Fees and Hyperliquid docs: HIP-1 native token standard · by Hyperliquid Academy
What spot is here
An order book, on the same matching engine as the perpetuals, for tokens issued natively on HyperCore.
The difference from a perpetual is what you end up holding. A perpetual is a contract on a price, margined in USDC. Spot is the token itself: no leverage, no funding, no liquidation, and no expiry to think about.
| Spot | Perpetual | |
|---|---|---|
| What you hold | The token | A contract on its price |
| Leverage | None | Up to the market’s cap |
| Funding | None | Charged or received hourly |
| Liquidation | Impossible | Possible |
| Fee level | Higher | Lower |
| Counts toward your tier | Double | Once |
The fee trade, which is more interesting than it looks
Spot rates are higher at every tier.
| Tier | 14-day volume | Taker | Maker | Taker with referral |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Under $5M | 0.07% | 0.04% | 0.0672% |
| 1 | Over $5M | 0.06% | 0.03% | 0.0576% |
| 2 | Over $25M | 0.05% | 0.02% | 0.048% |
| 3 | Over $100M | 0.04% | 0.01% | 0.0384% |
| 4 | Over $500M | 0.035% | 0% | 0.0336% |
| 5 | Over $2B | 0.03% | 0% | 0.0288% |
| 6 | Over $7B | 0.025% | 0% | 0.024% |
Set against the perps table, the gap is real:
| Tier | 14-day volume | Taker | Maker | Taker with referral |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Under $5M | 0.045% | 0.015% | 0.0432% |
| 1 | Over $5M | 0.04% | 0.012% | 0.0384% |
| 2 | Over $25M | 0.035% | 0.008% | 0.0336% |
| 3 | Over $100M | 0.03% | 0.004% | 0.0288% |
| 4 | Over $500M | 0.028% | 0% | 0.0269% |
| 5 | Over $2B | 0.026% | 0% | 0.025% |
| 6 | Over $7B | 0.024% | 0% | 0.023% |
But spot volume counts double toward the fourteen-day volume that determines your tier. So a dollar traded on spot costs more today and moves you up the ladder twice as fast as a dollar traded on perps.
When that arithmetic actually pays
If you are near a tier threshold and you were going to buy the token anyway, doing it on spot advances your tier at double rate, and the lower perps fees then apply to everything you trade afterwards.
If you are nowhere near a threshold, the doubling is worth nothing and you are simply paying the higher rate. The thresholds are the thing to check before deciding this is a strategy.
Two adjustments are worth knowing. Pairs between two quote assets — stable pairs — receive a large taker reduction. And pairs quoted in an aligned quote asset get a reduced taker fee, improved maker rebates and a bonus to how much their volume contributes. The full schedule has the current figures.
Buying something on spot
-
Switch to the Spot tab
The tabs across the top of the market selector separate Perps, Spot and the other market types. A ticker in one is not the same instrument as the same ticker in the other.
You should see the spot market list, separate from the perps list
-
Check your USDC is in the Spot balance
Perps and Spot hold separate balances. Moving USDC across is instant and free, and it is an in-app transfer rather than a withdrawal. This is the step people miss.
You should see a spendable balance on the spot side
-
Read the book before you size
Spot books on smaller tokens are thinner than the perps book for the same asset. The slippage on a market order can dwarf the fee difference this page has been discussing.
You should see a clear view of the depth behind the best price
-
Place a limit order
The maker and taker gap is wider on spot than on perps, so resting an order is worth proportionally more here than it is on the perpetual side.
You should see a resting order, filling at the maker rate
-
Check what you can do with the token afterwards
This matters before you buy, not after. Some tokens have routes out; others are tradable in place only.
You should see a clear answer about whether it can leave HyperCore
What is listed
Two different things end up in the spot list.
HIP-1 tokens, issued natively on HyperCore through the standard’s own auction process. HYPE is the one most people are looking for. How the standard and its listings work.
Assets bridged in as native deposits, held by custodians on their own chain and credited here. Depositing Bitcoin gives you a spot balance of exactly this kind. The native deposit route.
They trade identically and their risk is not identical: the second kind carries the custody arrangement of whatever bridged it.
Where spot fits in a trading account
Buying HYPE to stake. Staking discounts multiply against your fee rate, and the tiers start low. This is the most common reason to touch spot at all. What staking actually pays.
Holding an asset you do not want leveraged. No funding, no liquidation price, nothing to monitor.
The other leg of a funding trade. Long spot and short the perpetual is the classic structure for collecting funding without price exposure, and the spot leg is the part that makes it delta-neutral.
Converting a native deposit. Anything you deposit that is not USDC arrives here and has to be sold before it can margin a perpetual.
What spot does not give you
Leverage. If you want it on the same asset, the perpetual market is the instrument, with everything that comes with it.
A hedge, by itself. Holding a token is exposure, not protection. Shorting the perpetual against a spot holding is the hedge.
Cheap frequent trading. At the entry tier the spot round trip costs several times the perps equivalent. If you are trading in and out of the same asset repeatedly, the perpetual is the cheaper instrument, and it is not close.
Where to go next
The complete fee schedule, including where the spot adjustments apply, and what HYPE is used for, which is the token most people arrive on the spot tab looking for.
Frequently asked questions
How do spot fees differ from perps fees?
They are higher at every tier. The offset is that spot volume counts double toward the fourteen-day volume that sets your tier, so trading spot moves you up the ladder twice as fast per dollar.
Can I use leverage on spot?
No. Spot is buying and selling the token itself, so there is no margin, no funding and no liquidation. If you want leverage on the same asset, that is the perpetual market.
What tokens are listed?
Tokens issued natively on HyperCore under the HIP-1 standard, including HYPE, plus assets bridged in as native deposits. The spot tab in the app lists what is currently tradable.
Can I withdraw spot tokens?
Native HIP-1 tokens live on HyperCore, so what you can do with them depends on the token: some have routes out through HyperEVM or a bridge, others are only tradable in place. Check before you buy if getting the token out matters.
Does spot USDC back my perpetual positions?
Not until you move it. USDC in your Spot balance and USDC in your Perps balance are separate. The transfer between them is instant and free, and it is not a withdrawal.
Why are stable pairs cheaper?
Pairs between two quote assets get a large reduction on the taker fee, because market-making a stable pair is a different business from market-making a volatile one. The fee page has the current adjustment.
Sources
- Hyperliquid docs: Feeshyperliquid.gitbook.io
- Hyperliquid docs: HIP-1 native token standardhyperliquid.gitbook.io
We link the primary source for every number on this page. If a figure here disagrees with the Hyperliquid documentation, the documentation is right and we want to know.