How to trade perps on a DEX
To trade perps on a DEX, you pick a venue, deposit USDC, set leverage well below the cap and attach a stop-loss to the order. A perp never expires: funding passes between longs and shorts while it is open, and liquidation closes it once the margin can no longer cover the loss. Fees, caps and rules come from each venue’s documentation.
- What a perp is
- No-expiry futureFunding keeps it near spot; liquidation can close it
- Taker fee, base tier
- 0% to 0.045%Lighter free by default, Aster 0.04%, Hyperliquid 0.045%
- Liquidation at 10x
- About 10%Against you, that move takes the whole margin, before fees
- KYC
- Wallet sign-upOn Hyperliquid, Lighter and Variational. Aster documents no identity check either way. Compare the venues
- Collateral
- USDCOn all four venues; Aster also takes USDT. How to deposit
- Leverage caps
- 40x to 1001xHyperliquid 40x, Lighter 50x, Aster 1001x in Degen Mode. Why a cap is not a target
- Referee discount
- 4% to 10%Off fees: Hyperliquid on the first $25M, Lighter on all fees paid. What a code changes
Checked 22 October 2026
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What a perpetual future is
A perpetual future tracks the price of an asset and never expires. You go long if you expect a rise, short if you expect a fall, and leverage multiplies both directions.
How a perp position works
- MarginYou deposit only a fraction of the position’s value.
- LeverageA small price move becomes a large move in your collateral.
- FundingLongs and shorts pay each other to keep the contract near spot.
- LiquidationOnce margin can’t cover the loss, the venue closes you out.
Choosing a perp DEX: fees, leverage, markets and KYC
The four venues linked to this guide cover the range of fees, leverage caps and markets. Three checks narrow the choice:
- Compare the base-tier maker and taker rates, not the headline number.
- Check the sign-up: Hyperliquid, Lighter and Variational open with a wallet; Aster documents no identity check either way.
- Match the venue to the markets you trade, and treat the highest leverage cap as a warning, not a target.
Taker fee at the base tier
- Hyperliquid
- 0.045%0.015% maker, seven volume tiers. Up to 40x on 234 perp markets.
- Aster
- 0.04%0% maker. 610 markets. 1001x in Degen Mode; the Pro order book caps at 100x.
- Lighter
- 0%0% maker too, by default, at the cost of 300ms of taker latency. Up to 50x on 210 markets.
- Variational
- 0%No trading fee: the venue keeps the spread. No leverage cap published.
Hyperliquid opens with a wallet, publishes its fees across seven volume tiers and has the lowest leverage cap in this series: 40x.
app.hyperliquid.xyz
Depositing collateral on a perp DEX
Deposits are chain-specific, and that is where first attempts usually go wrong. All four venues take USDC, but not by the same route.
- Open the app by typing the domain yourself: hyperliquid.xyz, asterdex.com, lighter.xyz, variational.io.
- Send a small test deposit first, on the chain and in the asset the venue documents.
- Wait for the balance to show up before adding more collateral.
What each venue takes
- Hyperliquid
USDC, arriving mainly through Circle’s CCTP from Arbitrum. No native on-ramp in euros.
- Aster
USDC or USDT.
- Lighter
USDC, on a ZK rollup anchored on Ethereum, with a documented escape hatch.
- Variational
USDC through a gasless deposit, with a flat $0.10 on each deposit and withdrawal.
A first order you can justify
Prudence here is not a mood, it is four settings, all chosen before the order goes in.
Before you place the order
Isolated margin. When the venue offers a margin mode, it keeps a loss inside that trade, away from the rest of the account.
Low leverage. Well below the cap: 40x at Hyperliquid and 50x at Lighter are maximums, not sizes.
Stop-loss attached. Placed with the order, not after it.
A size you can lose. Being stopped out should be a loss you would accept on any other day.
Funding and the liquidation price, with a simple example
Leverage sets how far the price can go against you before the margin is lost. Here is the simplest calculation, then what it leaves out.
- Your collateral (the margin)
- $1,000
- Position at 10x (notional)
- $10,000
- Price move against you
- about 10%
- Loss
- about $1,000
The whole margin: that is liquidation, before fees and funding. At 2x, the same move costs about $200, a fifth of the collateral.
What the example leaves out
- Funding
It accrues while the position is open: the longer you hold, the closer the liquidation price sits.
- Fees and borrow
On pool venues: GMX charges 0.04% to 0.06% per open or close, plus borrow and price impact; Jupiter Perps adds an hourly borrow fee.
- The forced close
Some venues document how it fills: Variational executes a forced liquidation 0.5% away from the bid or ask.
Referral links: what the referee actually gets
A referral code changes your costs, not your risk: a rebate on a losing position is still a losing position. What the referee gets depends on the venue; Jupiter Perps and Veranta publish no rate at all.
What the referee gets
- Hyperliquid
- 4%Off fees on your first $25M of volume.
- Lighter
- 10%Off the fees you pay, rebated every Monday: on a paid account, or on a Standard account’s TWAP/advanced orders and RFQ.
- Aster
- Part of 10%The referrer chooses how the default 10% commission is split, so part can come back to you as a discount.
- Variational
- 1 per 10One point for every 10 points you earn.
The mistakes that cost money
Five mistakes come up most often among beginners, and over-leverage comes first.
The other four
- Trading without a stop
Without a stop-loss attached to the order, a losing trade runs until you close it or the venue liquidates it.
- A copied interface
One signature on a phishing copy can empty a wallet. Type the domain by hand.
- Farming points at any price
Aster rewards volume with points, and its normalized volume on DefiLlama sits well below the reported figure: paid-for activity is not liquidity.
- Paying for impatience
Lighter’s free matching is deliberately slower than its paid tier, and on Veranta the heavier side of open interest pays 0.045%, the lighter 0.001%.
Tools used in this guide
Hyperliquid
Perp DEX on its own L1 · EVM
You want deep liquidity, low fees and a public fee ladder you can plan around.
- Trading fees
- 0.045% taker · 0.015% maker
- Max leverage
- up to 40×
- Identity check (KYC)
- No KYC
DefiLlama protocol page, perp volume over 30 days, 28/09/2026. DefiLlama publishes the same figure as normalized volume: no wash-trading discount reported.
Open HyperliquidReviewapp.hyperliquid.xyzAster
Perp DEX on Aster Chain · EVM
You trade from a phone and want a large book of crypto, stock and commodity perps.
- Trading fees
- 0.04% taker · 0% maker
- Max leverage
- up to 1001×
- Identity check (KYC)
- Not documented
DefiLlama protocol page, 28/09/2026. Its normalized 24h volume ($810M) sits well below the reported volume ($1.26B the same day), and the campaign stages (Aster Crystal, Aster Convergence) reward volume with points: part of the reported volume is incentive-driven.
Open AsterReviewAffiliate linkLighter
Zero-fee perp DEX on a ZK rollup · EVM
Fees are your main cost and you accept slightly slower fills to keep them at zero.
- Trading fees
- 0% maker · 0% taker
- Max leverage
- up to 50×
- Identity check (KYC)
- No KYC
DefiLlama protocol page, 28/09/2026. Reported 24h volume ($1.21B) is about 48% above the normalized figure ($821M), so a meaningful share of activity is not counted as organic.
Open LighterReviewAffiliate linkVariational
Perps by RFQ, crypto and TradFi · EVM
You want one cross-margined account for crypto, equities, commodities and forex with no visible trading fee.
- Trading fees
- 0% trading fees
- Max leverage
- Not documented
- Identity check (KYC)
- No KYC
DefiLlama protocol page, 28/09/2026, reported volume. DefiLlama publishes no normalized figure for Variational, so no wash-trading discount can be read: the $50.9B is taken as published, without confirmation.
Open VariationalReviewomni.variational.io
Frequently asked questions
How much leverage should I use on my first perp trade?
Start well below the platform cap. In this series the caps run from 40x at Hyperliquid to 1001x in Aster's Degen Mode, whose Pro book caps at 100x. At 10x, a move of about 10% against you closes the position, before fees. A cap is a maximum, not a target.
What is funding on a perpetual?
A periodic payment between longs and shorts that keeps the perp near the spot price, charged for as long as the position is open. Jupiter Perps charges an hourly funding rate on its Beta markets, Veranta charges funding and borrow while a position lives, and GMX leaves borrow and funding out of referral rewards.
Can I trade perps on a DEX without KYC?
On Hyperliquid, Lighter and Variational the documented sign-up is a wallet connection, and custody stays non-custodial. Aster documents no identity check either way, so we do not claim no KYC for it. Backpack and Bybit, the two centralised venues in the series, require KYC and hold your balances.
How do I deposit collateral?
Send a small test first, in the asset the venue documents: USDC on Hyperliquid, arriving mainly through Circle's CCTP from Arbitrum; USDC or USDT on Aster; USDC on Lighter; and USDC on Variational, where deposits are gasless and each withdrawal costs a flat $0.10.
What does a referral link change?
Your fees, not your risk. Hyperliquid gives 4% off on the first $25M of volume, Lighter 10% off the fees you pay, rebated weekly, Aster a share of the 10% default commission, and Variational 1 point per 10 points earned. Jupiter Perps publishes no referee benefit, and Veranta mentions one without a rate.
What are the most common beginner mistakes?
Using leverage close to the cap, entering without a stop-loss attached to the order, arriving through a phishing copy instead of the official domain, and farming points with volume you would not otherwise trade: Aster rewards volume with points, and its normalized volume on DefiLlama sits far below the reported figure.