How to set stop-loss and take-profit on Hyperliquid

What a stop actually is

A stop is a trigger, not a price. When the market reaches the level you set, it sends an order. What happens next is ordinary order execution, subject to whatever liquidity exists at that moment.

That distinction is the whole content of this page, because it explains every disappointing stop anyone has ever had.

Neither is a promise of the trigger price. One risks a worse fill; the other risks no fill. Choosing between them is choosing which of those you would rather have.

Setting them

1. Decide the price that proves you wrong

   This comes first, before size and before the order. A stop belongs where your reason for the trade stops being true, not at a round percentage. A stop placed at “the most I want to lose” will be hit by ordinary noise, and then the price will do what you expected.

   You should see a level chosen from the chart, not from how much you are willing to lose

2. Size the position so that level is affordable

   This is the step that does the real work. If the correct stop level implies a loss you cannot accept, the position is too large. Shrink the position rather than moving the stop closer.

   You should see a position where being stopped out costs an amount you can shrug at

3. Open the TP/SL controls on the position

   They sit with the position rather than in the main order ticket. You can also attach them to the entry order so the protection exists from the moment the position does.

   You should see fields for a take-profit trigger and a stop-loss trigger

4. Set the triggers on the correct sides

   For a long: stop below, take-profit above. For a short, reverse both. Getting this backwards is the most common reason an order is rejected outright.

   You should see a stop below the market for a long, a take-profit above it

5. Attach reduce-only

   Without it, an exit order that is larger than the position will close it and open an equal position in the opposite direction. That accident is entirely avoidable and reduce-only avoids it. Put it on every exit, always.

   You should see orders that can only shrink the position, never open a new one

Where to actually put the stop

Two things constrain it, and they pull in opposite directions.

Above the noise. A stop inside the market’s normal hourly range will be hit by nothing in particular. Look at what the market does on a quiet day before choosing a distance.

Well inside the liquidation price. If your liquidation sits closer than your stop, the stop is decorative. Run the numbers in the liquidation calculator: enter your entry, size and leverage, and compare the liquidation distance against where you intended the stop.

If those two constraints conflict, the position is too large or the leverage is too high. That is the useful signal, and it is better received before entering than after.

Take-profit, briefly

The mirror image, and much less emotionally difficult, which is why people skip it and then hold a winner back to breakeven.

A take-profit limit order captures your price and pays the maker fee, which is roughly a third of the taker fee at the entry tier. A take-profit market order guarantees the exit and pays taker. For a target you have chosen in advance and are not in a hurry to hit, the limit version is both cheaper and more accurate.

What a stop does not do

It does not replace position sizing. A stop caps the loss on a trade you got wrong. Size caps the damage when the stop itself fails. Only the second one survives a gap.

It does not prevent liquidation in every case. It usually gets you out first, and in a fast enough move both can fill badly. The liquidation guide shows how little movement is required at high leverage.

It does not need to be moved down. Widening a stop as the price approaches it is the single most reliable way to turn a small planned loss into a large unplanned one.

Next

Closing a position properly, which is the same mechanics without a trigger, and the full list of order types and flags, including post-only and the chase order.