Dashboard Vaults Blog @0xkayser

Hyperliquid Vault FAQ

Straight answers to the questions new HL vault depositors actually ask. No fluff, no affiliate spin. Short definitions live in the glossary.

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Hyperliquid basics

What is a Hyperliquid vault?

A Hyperliquid vault is an on-chain pool of USDC run by a single trader (a leader vault) or by the protocol itself (HLP). Depositors send USDC to the vault address; the leader trades that capital on Hyperliquid's perp or spot markets; depositors share pro-rata PnL. Leader vaults keep a performance fee; HLP has no performance fee.

What is the difference between HLP and a leader vault?

HLP is protocol-run market making; a leader vault is a single trader's strategy. HLP earns from spreads, liquidations, and fee accrual across the whole exchange. A leader vault earns only from its own open positions. HLP has zero operator fee; leader vaults take 10–20% of profits. HLP has a 4-day lockup; most leaders have a 1-day lockup. See the HLP mechanics post for full detail.

What is a leader vault?

A leader vault is a Hyperliquid vault run by a single trader (the "leader"). The leader deposits their own capital (minimum 5% of vault), sets a performance fee (usually 10–20%), and trades depositor USDC on HL. Leader vaults are opt-in strategies: you are betting on that specific trader's skill.

What is the minimum deposit for a Hyperliquid vault?

Most vaults accept any USDC amount above the gas threshold. Practically, sub-$100 deposits get eaten by relative fee friction; $1,000+ is a more sensible starting point for vault PnL to be noticeable against transaction costs and slippage on exit.

HLP specifics

What is HLP on Hyperliquid?

HLP (Hyperliquidity Provider) is Hyperliquid's protocol-owned market-making vault. It quotes liquidity on perp markets, backstops liquidations, earns from bid/ask spreads, liquidation premiums, Earn interest on idle USDC, and accrues a share of protocol trading fees. Depositors to HLP share the vault's PnL directly — there is no operator fee.

Does HLP have a management fee?

No. HLP is community-owned and charges zero management or performance fees. Depositors share the vault's PnL directly. Leader vaults charge 10–20% performance fees on profits. This is the simplest mechanical reason HLP attracts most passive capital — see the live TVL page for the current HLP share of total vault TVL.

What is the 4-day lockup on HLP?

HLP deposits are locked for 4 days, measured from your most recent deposit. A new deposit resets the clock on the full balance. Leader vaults typically have a 1-day lockup instead. Leaders themselves have 30-day lockups on their own vault capital to align with depositors.

What caused the HLP losses in JELLY and FARTCOIN?

JELLY (March 2025, ~$12M loss) and FARTCOIN (April 2026, ~$1.5M loss) were both cases where an attacker used low-liquidity perp markets to dump a toxic position that HLP had to absorb as counterparty of last resort. They exposed a real tail-risk profile on HLP: it loses money when market makers cannot hedge, not just when markets move against it. Full breakdown in the HLP post.

What is the Sharpe ratio of HLP?

HLP's Sharpe has historically been in the 2–4 range over 90-day windows (high for a crypto strategy), but Sharpe hides tail risk. The JELLY incident in particular was a 6+ sigma loss relative to HLP's daily return distribution. Check live numbers on the HLP vault page rather than relying on a trailing Sharpe.

Risk & safety

Are Hyperliquid vaults safe?

Hyperliquid vaults have two risk layers: (1) trader risk — the leader can lose money, and often does; (2) protocol risk — tail events like the JELLY and FARTCOIN incidents caused real losses on HLP. Vaults are not insured. Size positions assuming a realistic drawdown, not the best-case APR.

What does the VaultVision risk score mean?

The VaultVision risk score is a 0–100 number combining drawdown, TVL stability, leader track record, strategy concentration, and recent volatility. Lower = safer. Bands: 0–40 conservative, 41–69 balanced, 70–100 aggressive. Full formula: risk score methodology. The risk score is the filter most depositors should apply before looking at APR.

What makes a vault "high risk" on VaultVision?

A vault enters the aggressive band (risk score 70+) when it combines two or more of: drawdown above ~20%, high return volatility, concentrated single-asset exposure, short track record, or unstable TVL. These are exactly the vaults that look best on APR alone and worst on a risk-adjusted basis.

How do I choose a Hyperliquid vault?

Use five filters in order: (1) risk score under your threshold, (2) max drawdown you can tolerate, (3) leader track record ≥60 days with a real win-rate, (4) strategy you understand, (5) TVL large enough for the strategy to matter but not so large the edge is diluted. Only after those five filters should APR enter the decision. Full framework: how to choose a HL vault.

Metrics: TVL, APR, drawdown

How is Hyperliquid TVL calculated?

For each vault, TVL = USDC equity at the vault address including unrealised PnL on open positions. The Hyperliquid-wide vault TVL is the sum across all active vaults. Note: this is vault TVL only; HyperEVM DeFi TVL and perp open interest are separate numbers. See the live TVL page for the current total and the TVL explainer for how the three definitions differ.

What is a good APR for a Hyperliquid vault?

There is no single "good" APR. Context matters: HLP runs 10–40% APR with low volatility; directional leader vaults can show 200%+ APR but with much higher drawdowns. Always read APR next to max drawdown and risk score, not alone. A 300% APR vault with 60% max drawdown is a different product from a 40% APR vault with 8% max drawdown.

What is drawdown in a vault?

Drawdown is the percentage drop from a vault's peak equity to a later trough. Max drawdown is the worst such drop in the vault's history. It is the single most honest risk number — APR hides volatility, drawdown exposes it. Always check max drawdown before depositing.

Vault mechanics

Can I withdraw from a Hyperliquid vault anytime?

No. Withdrawals are subject to the vault's lockup: 1 day for most leader vaults, 4 days for HLP. The clock is measured from your most recent deposit. There are no early-withdrawal penalties — you just have to wait out the lockup.

What is a whale in HL vault context?

In VaultVision, a "whale" is a wallet making a deposit or withdrawal above a size threshold (typically ≥$100K, adjusted per vault). Whale flow matters because a single large exit can move a small vault's TVL 20%+ in a day. We stream whale events so depositors can see when smart money is rotating.

About VaultVision

What does VaultVision actually do?

VaultVision tracks every active Hyperliquid vault with a proprietary 0–100 risk score, live TVL and APR, 30/90-day returns, max drawdown, leader track record, whale deposit/withdrawal flow, and entry-timing signals. It is free, no login, no paywall. Data refreshes every few minutes from on-chain state.

Where does VaultVision get its data?

All vault data comes directly from Hyperliquid on-chain state (HyperCore) — no aggregators, no third-party caches. VaultVision adds: risk scoring, whale flow aggregation, historical drawdown, entry signals, and ranking models. Everything is rebuildable from on-chain state.

How often does VaultVision refresh data?

Vault TVL, APR, and positions refresh every few minutes. Risk scores recompute daily. Whale flow events stream near real-time. Historical charts are aggregated nightly.

What is paper trading on VaultVision?

Paper trading lets you run a hypothetical portfolio across Hyperliquid vaults without depositing real capital. Compare allocations, test stop-loss rules, and see how a strategy would have performed against live vault data. It is the safest way to stress-test a vault selection framework before committing USDC.

Is VaultVision affiliated with Hyperliquid?

No. VaultVision is an independent analytics site built by @0xkayser. It uses Hyperliquid's public on-chain data and has no formal relationship with the Hyperliquid team or HLP.

Does VaultVision have an API?

Yes. The public read-only API under /api/v1/ exposes vaults, rankings, signals, and paper-trading endpoints. See the schema at /api/v1/health for the live surface. Rate limits apply; no auth required for read endpoints.

See the live vault data

Risk scores, whale flows, entry signals. Free, no login.

Browse live vault directory