Reference
Hyperliquid glossary
The vocabulary of on-chain perpetuals, defined in plain English. 28 terms covering the exchange, the L1, margin, funding, liquidations and the HYPE token.
A
- ADL (Auto-Deleveraging)
- The final solvency backstop. If a liquidation cannot be filled and the liquidator vault cannot absorb the position, the protocol force-closes opposing profitable traders to erase bad debt. It keeps the exchange solvent but can close a winning position early.Liquidations guide
- ALO (Add Liquidity Only)
- A post-only order flag. The order is rejected if it would immediately match against the book, guaranteeing you pay the maker fee rather than the taker fee.Order types guide
B
- Backstop liquidation
- When a position falls below roughly two-thirds of maintenance margin, the liquidator vault takes it over instead of routing a market order to the book. This absorbs positions that are too large or illiquid to close cleanly.Liquidations guide
- Builder code
- An on-chain identifier that lets third-party front-ends and bots attach a small, user-approved fee to orders they route to Hyperliquid, enabling apps to monetize order flow transparently.
C
- Cross margin
- A margin mode where all positions share a single collateral pool. It is capital-efficient but a loss on one position can draw down the equity backing every other position.Order types guide
F
- Funding rate
- A periodic payment exchanged between longs and shorts that tethers the perpetual price to the underlying spot/oracle price. On Hyperliquid it is calculated and settled hourly.Funding rates guide
G
- GTC (Good Til Cancel)
- A time-in-force flag. The limit order rests on the book until it fills or you cancel it — the default for most resting orders.Order types guide
H
- HIP-1 / HIP-2
- Hyperliquid Improvement Proposals that define the native spot token standard (HIP-1) and the built-in automated liquidity mechanism for spot markets (HIP-2).
- HLP (Hyperliquidity Provider)
- The protocol-run vault that market-makes and takes over liquidated positions. Depositors earn a share of market-making spread, liquidation premiums and fees — and share the downside.Vaults guide
- HYPE
- The native token of Hyperliquid, used for staking, fee discounts, governance and gas on HyperEVM. It launched via a large community airdrop in late 2024.HYPE token guide
- HyperBFT
- Hyperliquid’s native consensus: a pipelined, HotStuff-derived delegated proof-of-stake protocol tuned for very low latency. It secures both HyperCore and HyperEVM.What is Hyperliquid
- HyperCore
- The native, non-EVM engine that runs the on-chain order books, perpetuals, spot markets and liquidations with deterministic, sub-second performance.What is Hyperliquid
- HyperEVM
- The Ethereum-compatible smart-contract layer of the Hyperliquid L1. It can read HyperCore state directly, so contracts can use live prices and positions without external oracles or bridges.HyperEVM & ecosystem
I
- Initial margin
- The collateral required to open a position, determined by the leverage you choose. Higher leverage means lower initial margin and a closer liquidation price.Liquidations guide
- IOC (Immediate or Cancel)
- A time-in-force flag. Any portion of the order that cannot fill immediately is cancelled, rather than resting on the book.Order types guide
- Isolated margin
- A margin mode where a fixed amount of collateral is assigned to one position. Losses are capped at that allocation, protecting the rest of your account.Order types guide
L
- Liquidation
- The forced closure of a leveraged position when account equity drops below the maintenance-margin requirement, based on the mark price.Liquidations guide
M
- Maintenance margin
- The minimum equity a position must retain to stay open — typically about half of the initial margin at max leverage. Fall below it and you are liquidated.Liquidations guide
- Maker / Taker
- A maker adds liquidity with a resting order and pays a lower fee; a taker removes liquidity with a marketable order and pays a higher fee.Fees guide
- Mark price
- A smoothed, manipulation-resistant reference price used for margin, PnL and liquidation calculations — distinct from the last traded price.Liquidations guide
P
- Perpetual (perp)
- A futures contract with no expiry date. Funding payments keep its price anchored to the underlying asset so it can trade indefinitely.What is Hyperliquid
R
- Referral code
- A code entered at sign-up that permanently attaches a fee discount to your wallet. Using PERPLIST grants 4% off trading fees.Referral code
S
- Scale order
- A tool that splits a large order into multiple limit orders spread evenly across a price range, improving average entry or exit.Order types guide
- Staking (HYPE)
- Delegating HYPE to secure the network. Staking earns a variable APR and unlocks a six-tier fee-discount ladder from Wood (5%) to Diamond (40%).HYPE token guide
T
- TWAP order
- Time-Weighted Average Price: an execution algorithm that slices an order into small pieces released over a set duration to reduce market impact.Order types guide
U
- USDC
- The dollar-pegged stablecoin used as the collateral and settlement asset across Hyperliquid perpetual markets.Getting started
V
- Vault
- A pooled strategy account. Depositors supply capital to a leader (or the protocol HLP) and share profits and losses proportionally.Vaults guide
- VIP tier
- A volume-based fee discount level. Higher 14-day rolling volume lowers your base fees; VIP discounts stack multiplicatively with staking and referral discounts.Fees guide
4% off trading fees
Hyperliquid Referral Code
Enter the code when you create your account, or use the direct link below — the 4% fee discount is applied automatically.
CodePERPLIST
Claim your 4% discount
https://app.hyperliquid.xyz/join/PERPLIST