Glossary: Hyperliquid and crypto futures terms
Short explanations of the terms traders use on Hyperliquid. Each term links to the live data where you can see it in action.
- Cross marginA margin mode where the whole account balance backs all open positions, so profits on one cover losses on another.
- Delta-neutralA combination of positions whose total value does not change when the price moves, for example a long and a short of equal size.
- Funding arbitrageEarning the funding rate without price risk: opposite positions in the same coin on two venues, collecting the difference in funding.
- Funding rateA periodic payment between longs and shorts of a perpetual future that keeps its price close to the spot price.
- HLP vaultHyperliquidity Provider — a community vault on Hyperliquid that makes markets, takes over liquidations and shares the PnL with depositors.
- HyperCoreThe core of the Hyperliquid blockchain: on-chain order books, perpetual futures, spot trading and margin, running on its own consensus.
- HyperEVMThe Ethereum-compatible smart contract environment of the Hyperliquid blockchain, running alongside HyperCore.
- Isolated marginA margin mode where each position has its own margin: if it is liquidated, the rest of the account is untouched.
- LeverageBorrowed exposure: with 10× leverage a $1,000 margin opens a $10,000 position, multiplying both profit and loss.
- Limit orderAn order to buy or sell at a set price or better; it waits in the order book until the price gets there.
- LiquidationThe forced closing of a leveraged position when its margin can no longer cover losses.
- Liquidation mapA chart of how many leveraged positions would be liquidated at each price level above and below the current price.
- Liquidation priceThe price at which a leveraged position is closed by force because its margin no longer covers the loss.
- Long and shortA long earns when the price rises, a short earns when it falls. On perps both are opened the same way, with one click.
- Long squeezeA sharp price drop driven by forced selling: longs get liquidated, and their sell orders push the price lower.
- Long/short ratioHow positions in a coin are split between longs and shorts — by the number of traders or by the money in them.
- Maker and takerA maker adds liquidity with a limit order that rests in the book; a taker removes it with an order that fills immediately.
- Mark priceA fair reference price used for unrealized PnL and liquidations, resistant to spikes on a single exchange.
- Market makerA trader or firm that constantly quotes both buy and sell orders and earns on the spread rather than on direction.
- Market orderAn order to buy or sell immediately at the best available prices in the order book.
- Open interestThe total size of all open positions in a futures contract: how much money is currently at stake on longs and shorts.
- Order bookThe list of all buy and sell limit orders for a market, sorted by price.
- Perpetual futuresA futures contract with no expiry date: you trade the price of a coin with leverage, and a funding rate keeps it close to the spot price.
- Short squeezeA sharp price rise driven by forced buying: shorts get liquidated or close in a hurry, and their buy orders push the price even higher.
- SlippageThe difference between the expected price of a trade and the price it actually fills at.
- Stop-lossAn order that closes a position automatically when the price moves against it to a set level, limiting the loss.
- Take-profitAn order that closes a position automatically when the price reaches a target, locking in the profit.
- TWAP orderAn order that splits a large trade into small parts executed evenly over a set time, to reduce price impact.
- Unrealized PnLThe profit or loss of an open position at the current price, which becomes real only when the position is closed.
- WhaleA trader or wallet with positions large enough to move the market.
- Whale consensusA situation where most large traders in a coin take the same side — long or short.