How to start trading on Katana Perps

1. Create an account

1. Open the Katana Perps exchange and click Connect Wallet. It supports standard EVM-compatible wallets, and your wallet address is your account, with no separate registration or sign-up. source ↗
2. On first connection the app creates a session key authorized by your wallet, so orders and cancellations are signed without a wallet pop-up each time. Session keys can only trade, cannot withdraw or transfer funds, can be revoked in the interface and expire after 30 days. source ↗
3. Katana Perps runs on the Katana blockchain, an Ethereum Layer 2 (chain ID 747474) that uses ETH as its gas token. You can add it to MetaMask via ChainList or manually with the network details in the docs. source ↗

2. Deposit collateral

1. Only USDC on the Katana blockchain is accepted. Click Deposit, enter the amount, approve the USDC transfer and confirm in your wallet; once confirmed on-chain the balance is available for trading immediately. source ↗
2. There is no minimum deposit. Deposits are normal on-chain transactions, so you pay Katana gas in ETH. source ↗
3. USDC on Katana is Vault Bridge USDC (vbUSDC), which you get by bridging USDC from Ethereum to Katana through Vault Bridge; vbUSDC is redeemable 1:1. The docs say a step-by-step bridging guide is still coming soon. source ↗

3. Open your first position

1. Pick a market such as BTC-USD or ETH-USD, choose Buy / Long or Sell / Short, enter the quantity in the base asset, check the estimated fill price, fees and margin impact, and confirm. A market order is the simplest first order. source ↗
2. Order types are market, limit and conditional stop-loss and take-profit orders, with GTC, GTX (post-only), IOC and FOK time-in-force options and a reduce-only flag. source ↗
3. Crypto markets are cross-margined: all positions share one USDC collateral pool. Maximum leverage is set per market by its initial margin fraction, and larger positions need a higher margin fraction. source ↗
4. Docs list default fees at launch of 0.02% taker and 0.005% maker on trade notional. Placing orders and settling trades is gas-free. source ↗

4. Know how liquidation works

1. Your wallet can be liquidated when equity falls below the total maintenance margin requirement. Margin and equity use index prices, not order book prices. source ↗
2. In a liquidation all open positions are closed and the wallet ends with zero quote balance and zero equity. If the insurance fund cannot absorb it, positions are auto-deleveraged against profitable, high-leverage traders on the other side. source ↗
3. Funding is exchanged between longs and shorts every 8 hours, at 00:00, 08:00 and 16:00 UTC. Positive rates mean longs pay shorts. source ↗

5. Withdraw

1. Go to the Withdraw page, enter the USDC amount and confirm. Katana Perps sends the transaction for you and returns the USDC to your connected wallet. source ↗
2. You can only withdraw available collateral, i.e. funds not needed for open positions and orders. The minimum withdrawal is $1, and a gas fee (capped by a maximum you authorize) is deducted from the amount. source ↗
3. If the exchange's off-chain systems are unavailable, a wallet exit function on the smart contract returns all available funds to your wallet. source ↗

6. Common mistakes

1. Withdrawals can only go to the wallet that deposited the funds; there is no way to withdraw to a different address. source ↗
2. Resting limit orders hold part of your free collateral. If index price moves reduce your equity too far, your oldest resting limit orders are cancelled automatically. source ↗
3. Intermittent markets close and reopen instead of trading 24/7 and use wallet-wide isolated margin: while a wallet has a position or order in one, it cannot trade any other market. While closed, positions cannot be changed and only cancels, post-only orders and stop placement are accepted. source ↗
4. Positions below a market's minimum size are closed automatically at the index price seven days after dropping below it. source ↗

Before you trade

Perpetual futures use leverage: a small price move against you can liquidate your collateral. Start with a small amount and low leverage, and read the venue’s current fee and margin pages, which can change after this guide was checked.