Am I trading real coins or perps?

Perps. Every market here is a perpetual future on Hyperliquid that tracks the coin's price. You get price exposure, long or short, with leverage if you want it, margined in USDC. You do not take delivery of the underlying coin, and perp positions carry liquidation risk and pay or receive funding while open.

Do I need a crypto exchange account?

No. Based is a self-custody wallet, not an exchange. You connect the wallet, fund it with USDC and trade on Hyperliquid, a decentralised platform. There is no account application, no approval wait and no bank account requirement.

Can I short crypto on Based?

Yes. Every market is two-sided by default. Shorting a perp is the same tap as going long, in the other direction, with no borrow or margin account to arrange. Short positions carry the same liquidation risk and funding mechanics as longs.

What leverage is available on crypto perps?

Leverage varies by market and is set on Hyperliquid, with the exact maximum shown in the Based app before you open a position. Higher leverage means a closer liquidation price. Start small, and know your liquidation price before you confirm any trade.

Do crypto markets on Based ever close?

No. They run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including weekends and holidays, because Hyperliquid never closes. That matches the underlying crypto market, which trades around the clock everywhere.

Crypto

Trade crypto perps 24/7: BTC, ETH, SOL, HYPE

Crypto already trades around the clock. What it usually does not do is trade from a wallet you control, long or short, without an exchange account in the middle. Based connects you to the crypto perpetual futures on Hyperliquid, margined in USDC, with nothing to apply for and nobody to ask.

Why perps instead of spot

A spot position only makes money in one direction. A perpetual future is two-sided by design: you can be long Bitcoin or short it, in the same market, with the same tap. No borrow to arrange, no margin account to open, no waiting for an exchange to list the pair you want. Leverage is available if you choose it, which also means liquidation risk is real if you abuse it. More on that below.

Perps track spot through funding, a small payment exchanged between longs and shorts while a position is open. Depending on which side is crowded, you pay it or collect it. The mechanics are in the perpetual futures guide.

Why a wallet instead of an exchange account

An exchange account is a claim on a company. It takes an application, an approval, and trust that the company stays solvent and lets you withdraw. Based works differently. It is a self-custody wallet: the keys live on your device, you fund the wallet with USDC, and you trade directly on Hyperliquid, a decentralised platform. No brokerage account, no bank account, just a self-custodial wallet funded with USDC.

The trade-off is responsibility. Nobody can freeze your funds, and nobody can reset a lost recovery phrase. Self-custody means both of those things at once.

The markets

Bitcoin (BTC). The original cryptocurrency and still the market's reserve asset. Everything else trades in its shadow.

Ethereum (ETH). The settlement layer for most of onchain finance. ETF flows, staking and the L2 economy all price into one asset.

Solana (SOL). The high-throughput chain where much of retail onchain activity lives. Fast, cheap, and volatile in both directions.

Chainlink (LINK). The token of Chainlink, the oracle network that feeds offchain data like prices into smart contracts on most major chains.

Hyperliquid (HYPE). The token of the exchange every market on Based runs on. Exposure does not get more direct than this.

Dogecoin (DOGE). The original memecoin, still one of the most traded assets in crypto more than a decade after launch. Runs on sentiment and moves around the clock.

Ethena (ENA). The token of Ethena, the protocol behind USDe, one of the largest synthetic dollars in crypto. Its price tracks the yield trade that built it.

Plasma (XPL). The token of Plasma, a blockchain built specifically for stablecoin transfers. One of the most watched new chain launches in crypto.

CashCat (CASHCAT). A cat-themed community token with a perpetual futures market on Hyperliquid. Trades with exactly the volatility that description implies.

Bitcoin (BTC)

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