Why You Need a Checklist
Decentralized perpetual futures trading is not like spot trading. Leverage amplifies both gains and losses. A single overlooked detail — a wrong margin mode, a misplaced decimal, a forgotten funding payment — can liquidate your entire position. This checklist covers the 12 things you should verify before every trade. Follow it and you will avoid the mistakes that wipe out most beginners in their first week.
1. Wallet and Network Setup
Before anything else, confirm your wallet is connected to the correct network and you have enough gas for transactions.
- Hyperliquid uses Arbitrum for deposits. Make sure your wallet is on Arbitrum, not Ethereum mainnet.
- Lighter uses its own chain. Bridge from Arbitrum or supported networks.
- Aster supports multiple deposit networks. Confirm which one you are using.
- Keep at least $50-100 of ETH or the native gas token in your wallet for deposits, withdrawals, and order placement.
2. Exchange Selection
Not every DEX suits every trade. Pick based on your strategy:
- Scalping and high-frequency: Hyperliquid (tight spreads) or Lighter (zero fees)
- Swing trading: Hyperliquid or Aster — both offer deep enough liquidity for multi-day holds
- Altcoin perpetuals: Aster has the broadest altcoin selection; Hyperliquid focuses on majors
- Large positions (over $100K): Hyperliquid — the deepest order book by far
3. Account and Margin Setup
Before depositing, understand the margin system:
- Cross margin: Your entire account balance acts as collateral. Higher capital efficiency but one bad trade can drain everything.
- Isolated margin: Each position has its own collateral. Slightly higher funding cost but a single liquidation cannot touch your other positions.
Beginners should start with isolated margin. Set your margin for each trade to the amount you are willing to lose. Only switch to cross margin once you fully understand liquidation mechanics.
4. Leverage Selection
Leverage is the most dangerous tool in a beginner's arsenal. Here is how to choose:
- First 50 trades: 3x maximum. Learn how funding rates, liquidations, and PnL work before scaling up.
- After 50 trades: 5-10x for majors (BTC, ETH), 3-5x for altcoins.
- Never: 20x+ unless you are a professional with a backtested strategy and strict risk limits.
- Calculate your liquidation price before entering. If it is within 5% of your entry (BTC) or 10% (altcoins), your leverage is too high.
5. Position Sizing
One trade should never risk more than 1-2% of your total account value. The formula:
Position Size = (Account Value × Risk %) / (Entry Price - Stop Loss Price)
Example: $5,000 account, 1% risk = $50. Entry at $74,000 BTC with stop at $73,200 (1.08% stop distance). Position size = $50 / ($74,000 × 0.0108) = 0.063 BTC. That is your maximum position on this trade.
6. Order Type Selection
- Market order: Fills immediately at the best available price. Use for entries when speed matters.
- Limit order: Fills only at your specified price or better. Earn the maker rebate on Hyperliquid. Use for entries when price is more important than speed.
- Bracket order: Entry + take-profit + stop-loss in one submission. Use this for every trade where possible — it guarantees your risk is defined before the position opens.
- Reduce-only: Always enable this on stop-loss orders. Prevents your position from flipping to the opposite side during extreme volatility.
7. Stop-Loss Placement
A trade without a stop-loss is not a trade — it is gambling. Place your stop-loss before or immediately after entering:
- Based on technical levels, not an arbitrary percentage. Put it below a recent swing low (for longs) or above a recent swing high (for shorts).
- Give it breathing room. BTC stops within 0.5% of entry get hunted by market makers. Aim for 1-2% on BTC, 2-4% on altcoins.
- Use the reduce-only flag. Always.
8. Take-Profit Planning
Define where you will exit before you enter. The risk-reward ratio should be at least 1:2 — you are risking $1 to make $2.
- Set a take-profit limit order at your target.
- If using a bracket order, the TP is attached to your entry.
- Consider scaling out: close 50% at 1:2 R:R, move stop to breakeven, let the rest run.
9. Funding Rate Check
The funding rate is the interest payment between longs and shorts. Check it before entering:
- Positive funding: Longs pay shorts. If you are going long, you pay this rate every 8 hours.
- Negative funding: Shorts pay longs. Going long in a negative funding environment means you get paid to hold.
- If the funding rate is above 0.05% per 8 hours (0.15% per day), holding a long position is expensive. Factor this into your profit target.
- Check the funding rate on the DEX's interface or via API before every trade.
10. Liquidity and Slippage Check
Before placing a market order, check the order book depth:
- Look at the cumulative volume within 0.1% of the mid-price.
- If your order size exceeds 10% of the visible depth, expect meaningful slippage. Split the order or use limit orders.
- On low-volume altcoin pairs, even $1,000 market orders can move the price by 0.5%+.
11. News and Event Check
Check for scheduled events that could move the market:
- Federal Reserve / ECB / BOJ interest rate decisions
- CPI and employment data releases
- Major token unlocks or airdrops
- Network upgrades and hard forks
- Exchange listings and delistings
If a major event is scheduled within your planned holding period, either close before it or widen your stop-loss to account for the expected volatility spike.
12. Post-Trade Review
After every trade, win or lose, record:
- Entry price, exit price, position size, leverage, PnL
- Did you follow your plan? If not, why?
- What went right, what went wrong
Review your journal weekly. Patterns will emerge: maybe you overtrade after losses, or you cut winners too early. The journal is your mirror — use it.
Ready to Start Trading?
The three DEXs we recommend for beginners, based on execution quality and fee transparency:
- Hyperliquid: Best all-around. Use code HOLYGRAIL — 0.025% taker fees, sub-second execution. Join Hyperliquid
- Lighter: Zero taker fees. Use code 718610TD. Trade on Lighter
- Aster: Broad altcoin selection. Use code 4474ca. Trade on Aster