Hyperliquid Vaults Explained: Copy Trading and Pooled Strategies
Hyperliquid vaults are pooled trading accounts. One leader trades the strategy; depositors put USDC in and share the profit and the loss pro rata. Two flavours matter: strategies run by other users (copy trading), and the protocol's own market-making vault, HLP. Both are transparent onchain — every fill is visible — which is the whole point, and also the whole risk.
The two kinds of vault
- User-run strategy vaults. A leader trades their own capital alongside yours. Deposits open on a schedule, exits are subject to the vault's lock-up, and the leader takes a profit share (commonly around 10%) on gains.
- HLP / protocol vault. A protocol-managed market-making and liquidation vault. Its returns depend on spread capture, funding and the outcome of liquidations — meaning it can and does lose money in trend-driven crashes.
How deposits and exits work
Deposits usually open in short windows and are priced at the vault's net asset value. Withdrawals are queued and settle at the next NAV update; some vaults impose a lock-up counted in days from deposit. Read the specific vault's terms on its page before sending anything — the rules are per-vault, not global.
Profit share and cost structure
| Item | Who pays | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Profit share | Depositors → leader | Typically ~10% of realised gains, high-watermark dependent per vault |
| Trading fees | Vault (i.e. pooled capital) | Paid at the normal maker/taker schedule |
| Deposit/withdrawal | Depositor | Network/bridge costs only |
How to judge a leader
- Track record length — a 40-day vault tells you nothing about behaviour in a crash.
- Max drawdown, not just ROI. A vault that made 80% and lost 60% is not a better pick than one that made 25% and lost 8%.
- Concentration — is the leader all-in one alt with 20× leverage, or diversified across liquid majors?
- Capital at risk — do they trade their own money in the same vault?
- Behaviour around events — check fills during high-funding or post-liquidation windows.
Risks you actually take
- Blow-up risk. Leverage is leverage: a leveraged book can go to zero, and there is no insurance fund covering your share.
- Key/UX risk. Deposits are non-custodial, but signing the wrong transaction or using a look-alike interface is the classic way people lose funds.
- Lock-up risk. You cannot always exit mid-drawdown — exactly when you would want to.
- Incentive mismatch. Leaders may earn performance fees while you carry the downside.
Should you run your own vault?
Running one gives you a public track record and outside capital, but it means your mistakes are someone else's losses and your onchain history is permanent. Most traders are better off earning a track record privately first. If you do run one, publish your rules, cap leverage by rule (not by mood), and report drawdown honestly.
Browse live vault performance in the app: open Hyperliquid. For platform-level risks, read is Hyperliquid safe.