Hyperliquid vault drawdown explained
How to read max DD before chasing APR, with current VaultVision examples checked on May 21, 2026.
VaultVision's production API snapshot was checked at 2026-05-21 14:34:45 UTC. The numbers below are rounded from that snapshot. The live product pages may already differ after the next refresh, so use this article as a reading framework and the scanner as the current source of truth.
What drawdown actually measures
Max drawdown is the largest peak-to-trough drop in a vault's equity curve over a window. On VaultVision, the drawdown page uses the recent 30-day max drawdown next to TVL, APR, 30-day return, 90-day return, risk score, and entry label.
Lower is usually cleaner, but not automatically better. A quiet vault can have low drawdown because it is barely trading.
The useful question is not "what vault has the lowest drawdown?" It is: what return did the depositor earn for the drawdown they had to sit through?
Current low-drawdown examples
This table filters for active user vaults with TVL above roughly $500K and sorts by lowest 30-day max drawdown. It is not a recommendation list. It is the first screen you should open before trusting a headline APR.
| # | Vault | TVL | APR | 30D | 90D | 30D DD | Risk | Entry | Read |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Black Ops | $1.07M | +11.7% | +40.7% | +520.7% | 3.0% | 47 | Neutral 50 | Cleanest drawdown in this screen, but 90D performance is an outlier and still needs context. |
| 2 | Martyrbit | $1.67M | +59.5% | +32.5% | +57.3% | 3.2% | 47 | Neutral 60 | The cleanest simple example: positive return, low DD, moderate risk. |
| 3 | Equinox · Blackalgo | $997K | +45.6% | +6.8% | -16.2% | 3.7% | 45 | Neutral 62 | Low recent DD, but the 90D result says the longer path was not clean. |
| 4 | Edge & Hedge | $635K | +273.7% | +132.9% | +154.0% | 5.1% | 59 | Good Entry 75 | Strong entry label and return, with more risk than the first three rows. |
| 5 | Orbit Value Strategies | $3.05M | -0.7% | -1.0% | +4.0% | 5.3% | 47 | Neutral 47 | Low path risk, but not enough current return quality. |
| 6 | Citadel | $628K | +16.5% | +3.9% | +21.5% | 7.0% | 58 | Neutral 60 | Passes a conservative DD read, but not a high-conviction entry by itself. |
Data source: VaultVision production `/api/vaults`, checked May 21, 2026. DD means 30-day max drawdown.
The APR trap
APR is useful, but it is the easiest number to abuse. Drawdown tells you how much pain the path asked depositors to tolerate. The table below shows why VaultVision pushes high-drawdown vaults lower in the scanner even when recent returns look exciting.
| Vault | TVL | APR | 30D | 30D DD | Risk | Entry | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OnlyShorts | $530K | +3.3% | -33.4% | 33.2% | 69 high | Neutral 54 | The vault may be interesting to watch, but the recent depositor path is not clean. |
| drkmttr | $6.16M | +246.1% | +9.2% | 40.2% | 66 | Avoid 35 | Positive 30D return does not erase a 40% drawdown and Avoid entry label. |
| BredoStrategy | $1.94M | +830.3% | +51.2% | 27.8% | 72 high | Neutral 69 | Huge APR, huge path risk. This is not a quiet scanner default. |
| Hyperliquidity Provider (HLP) | $375.3M | +1.1% | +2.0% | 15.5% | 56 | Good Entry 75 | Useful benchmark: giant TVL, moderate score, but still not drawdown-free. |
How to use drawdown in VaultVision
- Start with the drawdown scanner. Open /vaults/drawdown and scan the first 10 rows before looking at APR.
- Separate low DD from low activity. A vault can look clean because it is not taking much risk. Check positions and effective leverage on the vault page.
- Compare drawdown to return. A 5% drawdown with +30% return is very different from a 5% drawdown with -1% return.
- Use risk and entry labels as vetoes. If entry is `Avoid` or risk is high, slow down even if APR is loud.
- Watch before depositing. If the vault is interesting but not clean, add alerts and wait for the next entry window.
Scanner logic, not yield theater
VaultVision now treats broad scanner defaults as product-safe navigation: enough TVL, controlled drawdown, lower risk, deposit-open context, and entry quality first. Aggressive rows stay visible, but they do not get to masquerade as a recommendation.
Related pages
- Hyperliquid vault drawdown scanner - lowest recent max DD first.
- Hyperliquid vault risk scanner - risk-first filtering.
- Hyperliquid vault TVL rankings - liquidity context for every vault.
- Best Hyperliquid vaults this week - weekly screen with pass and reject filters.
- VaultVision risk score formula - methodology behind the 0-100 risk score.
Data source and limits
- Checked against `https://vaultvision.tech/api/vaults` on May 21, 2026. API snapshot timestamp: `2026-05-21 14:34:45 UTC`.
- Fields used: `tvl_usd`, `apr`, `r30`, `r90`, `risk_score`, `risk_band`, `entry_label`, `entry_score`, and `risk_reasons.max_drawdown_30d`.
- Numbers are rounded for readability. Live product pages can differ after refresh.
- This is not financial advice. Hyperliquid vaults can lose money, and past performance does not guarantee future results.