How to Manage Hyperliquid Perps with OneKey Cold Wallet

Why use a cold wallet for perps?

Perps are high-velocity products: leverage, funding, and liquidations can turn small mistakes into large losses. A hardware wallet helps by keeping your private key offline and forcing explicit, human-reviewed approvals for the actions that matter most (especially bridging and withdrawals).

OneKey is designed for this “sign-only” security model: you can trade via a web interface while the device stays isolated from the internet, approving only the exact messages you intend to sign.

Before you start (what you need)

1) A dedicated trading account on OneKey

Best practice is to create a fresh EVM address used only for trading and collateral management. Keep long-term holdings in a separate address.

2) ETH (gas) + USDC on Arbitrum

HL’s native bridge connects HL and Arbitrum, and you’ll use ETH on Arbitrum to pay gas for the deposit transaction (trading itself is gasless). This is described in the platform’s onboarding guide. Refer to the official onboarding guide.

3) Use the official trading interface

Always verify the URL before connecting: the official trading interface.

Step-by-step: Manage HL perps with OneKey

Step 1: Prepare your OneKey device (security baseline)

Checklist

• Set a strong PIN
• Back up your recovery phrase offline (never store it in cloud notes)
• (Optional) Enable a passphrase if you understand how it works operationally
• Consider a “small test deposit” workflow before moving meaningful size

Step 2: Fund your OneKey EVM address on Arbitrum

Option A: Bridge to Arbitrum

Use the official Arbitrum bridge: Arbitrum Bridge.

Option B: Receive directly on Arbitrum

If you already have assets on Arbitrum, send ETH (for gas) and USDC to your OneKey EVM address.

Step 3: Connect OneKey to the trading interface

1. Open the trading interface and click Connect.
2. Choose an EVM wallet connection method supported by your setup (for example, via a wallet extension that can route signing requests to your OneKey device).
3. Approve the connection.

“Enable Trading” (important)

HL requires an “Enable Trading” step where you sign a message/transaction that authorizes trading actions without gas. This is part of the standard onboarding flow in the official onboarding guide.

OneKey tip: treat this like granting permissions—only do it on the correct domain, and only after verifying the URL.

Step 4: Deposit USDC from Arbitrum

1. In the trading interface, click Deposit.
2. Select USDC on Arbitrum and enter an amount.
3. Confirm the deposit transaction in your wallet interface.
4. Verify on your OneKey screen, then approve.

Notes you should know:

• You need ETH on Arbitrum for the deposit gas.
• Trading on HL does not cost gas (the deposit does). See the official onboarding guide.
• The underlying bridge deposit logic (including minimum deposit considerations) is documented in the Bridge2 documentation.

Step 5: Open a perp position (order workflow)

1. Pick a market in the interface.
2. Choose Long or Short.
3. Set size and leverage (remember: position size = leverage × collateral).
4. Click Place Order and confirm in the modal.

This flow is outlined in the platform’s onboarding docs: How to start trading.

Risk controls you should set immediately

• Use conservative leverage until you’re confident with liquidation mechanics.
• Prefer limit entries in fast markets.
• Define exit logic before entry (invalidations, stop levels, max loss per trade).

Step 6: Actively manage risk (funding, liquidation, and margin)

Perps stay anchored to spot via funding, a periodic payment exchanged between longs and shorts:

• If funding is positive, longs pay shorts
• If funding is negative, shorts pay longs

For a clear explanation of how funding rates work and why they exist, see Coinbase’s overview: Understanding funding rates in perpetual futures.

A practical risk routine

• Check liquidation price after every size increase
• Avoid “all-in margin” (leave buffer for volatility)
• Reduce leverage rather than “hoping” through a drawdown
• Track funding impact if you hold positions for long periods

Step 7: Withdraw USDC back to Arbitrum (securely)

1. In the trading interface, click Withdraw.
2. Enter the amount.
3. Choose Withdraw to Arbitrum.

Key details:

• The withdrawal is gasless, but there is a $1 withdrawal fee according to the official onboarding guide.
• The bridge withdrawal flow requires signing typed data (a structured signature). For technical details, see Bridge2 documentation.

Why typed-data signing matters on hardware wallets

Withdrawals often use EIP-712 typed structured data, which is designed to make off-chain signatures more human-verifiable than opaque hex strings. If you want the underlying standard, read: EIP-712.

OneKey best practice: read every withdrawal-related prompt carefully—address, chain context, and the action being authorized.

Step 8 (Optional): Add HyperEVM to your wallet for ecosystem access

A notable recent expansion is HL’s EVM environment (“HyperEVM”), enabling apps and tooling to live alongside the core trading system. The official docs provide the network parameters and Chain ID.

You can add it via Chainlist: Chainlist entry for Chain ID 999, or manually using the values shown in How to use the HyperEVM.

Example (manual add):

Chain ID: 999
RPC URL: https://rpc.hyperliquid.xyz/evm
Currency Symbol: HYPE
Explorers (optional):
- https://hyperevmscan.io/
- https://www.hyperscan.com/

Common pitfalls (and how to avoid them)

1) Phishing sites and fake popups

• Type the URL manually or use a trusted bookmark: the official trading interface
• Don’t approve “Enable Trading” prompts on lookalike domains

2) Blind-signing withdrawal messages

• Withdrawals are high-value actions—slow down and verify
• Learn what typed data signing is: EIP-712

3) Overleverage during volatility

• Liquidations can cascade quickly in crypto markets
• If you’re new, treat leverage as a dial for risk, not a shortcut to profit

When OneKey makes the biggest difference

If you only use a cold wallet for one thing in this workflow, make it this:

• Deposits/bridging approvals
• Withdrawals back to Arbitrum
• Any permission or session-enabling signatures

That’s where the blast radius is largest if your browser environment is compromised—so having OneKey as the final signer is a meaningful security upgrade for active on-chain derivatives traders.