Hyperliquid Perps Guide: How to Trade Safely with OneKey
Why onchain perps matter in 2026 (and why safety matters even more)
Onchain derivatives grew dramatically through 2025, with perpetuals DEX volume reaching new highs and becoming a core workflow for many active traders. That growth also brought familiar risks—over-leverage, liquidation cascades, and increasingly sophisticated phishing that targets signatures (not just seed phrases). For example, Scam Sniffer’s 2025 data highlighted how “permit” style approvals remained a major loss vector, and new signature-based attack patterns emerged quickly after major protocol upgrades. Reference. (cointelegraph.com)
This guide focuses on process: a step-by-step workflow to trade perps with strong operational security using the OneKey wallet once, then keeping risk controls tight as you scale. (cointelegraph.com)
Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice.
What you’re trading: perps basics you must get right
Key concepts (in plain English)
- Collateral & margin: You post collateral (often USDC) and borrow exposure via leverage.
- Initial margin: What you need to open a position; it scales with position size and leverage. Reference. (hyperliquid.hyperpredict.co)
- Maintenance margin: The minimum equity you must keep to avoid liquidation; if equity drops below it, positions can be force-closed. Reference. (hyperliquid.gitbook.io)
- Funding: A periodic payment between longs and shorts to keep perps aligned with spot; on this venue, funding is paid every hour. Reference. (hyperliquid.gitbook.io)
Cross vs isolated: choosing the safer default
- Cross margin shares collateral across positions (efficient, but one bad trade can threaten the whole account).
- Isolated margin limits risk to a single position (often safer for new traders or for volatile assets). Reference. (hyperliquid.hyperpredict.co)
Pre-flight checklist (do this before you connect any wallet)
1) Bookmark the correct domain and ignore DMs
Use only the official trading interface and documentation, accessed from your own bookmarks:
This matters because most real-world losses come from fake front-ends that trick you into signing approvals.
2) Use a hardware wallet workflow (and keep a “trading-only” account)
A strong pattern is:
- Long-term storage address: rarely connects to dApps
- Trading address: limited funds, used for perps and frequent signatures
OneKey helps here by keeping private keys offline while still letting you review and approve each signature carefully on a trusted device.
3) Plan your “approval hygiene”
Even if you never share a seed phrase, attackers can still drain assets if you sign dangerous approvals.
- Regularly review/revoke approvals with a tool like Revoke.cash.
- Avoid “infinite approval” unless you truly need it for active strategies.
Step-by-step tutorial: trade perps safely (with OneKey in the loop)
Step 1: Prepare funds on Arbitrum (USDC + a little ETH for gas)
This venue’s native bridge is between its chain and Arbitrum, and the most common setup is:
- USDC on Arbitrum as collateral
- Some ETH on Arbitrum to pay deposit gas (trading itself is designed to be gasless). Reference. (hyperliquid.gitbook.io)
If you need to move funds to Arbitrum, you can use the official Arbitrum Bridge.
Step 2: Connect your wallet (use WalletConnect if you prefer mobile signing)
WalletConnect creates an encrypted session between your wallet and the dApp, so your private keys never leave the wallet. Reference and Reference. (docs.walletconnect.network)
Practical tips:
- If you’re using OneKey hardware, prefer a flow where all signatures are clearly displayed and confirmed.
- Read every signature prompt. If the site asks for something you don’t understand, reject.
Step 3: Deposit collateral (understand the two “minimums” that can cost you money)
From the UI, click Deposit, then deposit USDC from Arbitrum.
Critical safety notes from the docs:
- Only USDC deposits from Arbitrum are supported for this path—other tokens may not be credited. Reference. (hyperliquid.gitbook.io)
- The bridge deposit minimum is 5 USDC; sending less may be lost. Reference. (hyperliquid.gitbook.io)
Step 4: Choose margin mode and set leverage (start lower than you think)
- Pick isolated for your first trades if you want cleaner risk boundaries.
- Set leverage conservatively and size positions based on what you can lose without emotion.
Margin math and behavior (including cross vs isolated and transfer constraints) are explained here: Reference. (hyperliquid.hyperpredict.co)
Step 5: Place a trade (prefer limit orders; avoid “revenge market orders”)
A clean beginner flow:
- Select market
- Choose Long or Short
- Use a limit order to control entry
- Confirm the order
The official onboarding walkthrough is here: Reference. (hyperliquid.gitbook.io)
Step 6: Add protection: liquidation awareness + funding awareness
Before you walk away from the screen, confirm:
- Where liquidation risk comes from and how liquidations execute (market orders first; then backstop mechanisms in some cases). Reference. (hyperliquid.gitbook.io)
- Funding is applied hourly, so holding positions overnight can cost (or pay) you depending on market skew. Reference. (hyperliquid.gitbook.io)
Step 7: Close, withdraw, and verify you used the correct action
To withdraw to Arbitrum:
- Click Withdraw
- Choose Withdraw to Arbitrum
- Note: withdrawals are designed to be gasless for the user, with a 1 USDC fee mentioned in the docs. Reference. (hyperliquid.gitbook.io)
Also learn the difference between Send (internal transfer on the platform’s chain) and Withdrawal (to another network). This confusion is a common source of “missing funds” support tickets. Reference. (hyperliquid.gitbook.io)
Advanced safety playbook (what experienced traders actually do)
Use “operational” guardrails, not willpower
- Cap leverage by rule (example: “never above 5x except hedges”).
- Limit open positions count (too many positions = hidden cross risk).
- Keep a fixed “max daily loss,” then stop.
Treat signatures as the new seed phrase
Modern phishing often aims to trick you into signing a malicious approval—sometimes disguised as something routine. Staying current on signature-based threats is part of trading today. Reference. (cointelegraph.com)
Prefer venues and bridges with clear security posture
Bridge design and verification matter. The official docs describe validator signing thresholds, dispute periods, and note that bridge logic has been audited (with pointers to code and audit materials). Reference. (hyperliquid.gitbook.io)
Why consider OneKey for perps workflows (when it actually helps)
If you trade perps actively, you’ll sign a lot—deposits, orders, cancels, withdrawals, and occasional approvals. A OneKey hardware wallet setup is most valuable when:
- You want private keys kept offline while still trading frequently
- You want a more disciplined “review before you sign” routine
- You prefer separating long-term holdings from a dedicated trading account
Used this way, OneKey isn’t just a storage device—it’s a practical control layer that reduces the blast radius of inevitable mistakes in high-frequency, high-risk trading.
