Hyperliquid is one of the largest trading venues in crypto, and it no longer stops at crypto. Stock perps, pre-IPO names and prediction markets all run on the same engine. Getting onto it takes about ten minutes and involves no account application, because there is no account. Here is the whole process, step by step, through Based.
Step 1: set up the wallet
Based is a self-custody wallet on iOS, Android and the web. Download the app or open the web terminal and create a wallet. The app will show you a recovery phrase, a list of words that is the only backup of your funds.
Write it down on paper. Not a screenshot, not a notes app, paper. Store it somewhere safe and never type it into a website or send it to anyone, because the only reason anyone ever asks for it is theft. Nobody at Based can see it, and nobody at Based can restore it. That is what self-custody means, and this guide explains it fully.
Step 2: fund it with USDC
Every market on Hyperliquid is margined in USDC, a digital dollar, so USDC is what you deposit. You can buy USDC directly in the app, or transfer it from an exchange or another wallet you already use.
No bank account is linked, no wire transfer clears over days, and there is no minimum balance review. The full access formula is: no brokerage account, no bank account, just a self-custodial wallet funded with USDC. Once the USDC lands, you are ready to trade.
Step 3: pick a market
The full list of markets covers two universes. Crypto perps: BTC, ETH, SOL, HYPE, DOGE, ENA, XPL, CASHCAT and many more. Stock perps: Micron, SanDisk, SK Hynix, Samsung, Intel, Cerebras, Nebius, plus pre-IPO and hard-to-reach names like SpaceX, ChangXin Memory and Unitree.
Every market runs 24/7, weekends and holidays included, because the platform underneath never closes. Prices you see at 3am on a Sunday are real, live prices.
Step 4: open your first position
Pick long if you think the price goes up, short if you think it goes down. Choose a size, and choose your leverage, if any. Leverage is optional: with none, a $100 position moves like $100 of the asset. At 5x, every move hits five times as hard in both directions.
Before you confirm, the app shows your liquidation price, the level where the position would be closed automatically and its margin lost. Know that number before you open, and keep it comfortably far from the current price. Start smaller than your instincts suggest. The perps guide explains liquidation and funding in detail, and the what is HYPE guide covers the token that secures all of it.
What you are actually trading
Every market on Hyperliquid is a perpetual future, a derivative that tracks a price, not the underlying stock or coin. You get exposure, long or short, with leverage available. You do not get dividends, voting rights or coins in your wallet. Positions carry liquidation risk, and funding fees apply while they are open.
In exchange you get markets that never close, self-custody of your funds at all times, and access that does not depend on your geography or your bank. That is the trade, stated honestly. Welcome aboard.