How to start trading on SoDEX

1. Create an account

1. You can log in to SoDEX with a wallet or with an email address. For email, click Connect Wallet, choose Log in with Email and enter the 6-digit code sent to you; a new blockchain address is created for your email. source ↗
2. With a wallet, click Connect Wallet, approve the connection, accept the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy, then click Enable Trading and sign a gas-less transaction. source ↗
3. The onboarding guide has no KYC step, but every deposit is screened (KYT) and every withdrawal address is checked (KYA). source ↗
4. The Terms of Use exclude people in the United States, China, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Russia, Cuba, the Central African Republic and FATF-listed high-risk jurisdictions, among others. source ↗

2. Deposit collateral

1. Click Deposit in the header, pick the token and chain, confirm the notice to show your deposit address, then send funds from your external wallet. Deposits arrive in your Spot account, typically within about 2 minutes. source ↗
2. USDC can be deposited from Arbitrum, Base, BNB Chain, Ethereum, Polygon or Solana. The minimum USDC deposit is 5 USDC. source ↗
3. Only send supported tokens on supported networks; anything else, or any deposit below the token's minimum, is lost. All EVM chains share one deposit address, while non-EVM assets such as BTC use their own address. source ↗
4. Deposits flagged by KYT screening as tainted are rejected and returned to the source address. source ↗

3. Open your first position

1. Select the Futures category, choose a contract such as BTC-USD, select Buy/Long or Sell/Short, adjust leverage, choose Limit or Market, enter the amount (and price for limit) and click Buy or Sell. source ↗
2. Order types are Market (default slippage tolerance 1%), Limit, Stop Market, Stop Limit and TWAP. Options include Reduce-Only, GTC, IOC and TP/SL, which trigger on the mark price and execute as market orders. source ↗
3. Cross margin is the default and isolated margin is available. Leverage can be chosen up to the asset's maximum in the margin tiers, for example 40x on BTC for positions up to 4,000,000 USDC. source ↗
4. At the entry tier (14-day volume up to $5m) perps fees are 0.040% taker and 0.012% maker. source ↗

4. Know how liquidation works

1. Liquidation is checked with the mark price, not the last trade. SoDEX first sells into the order book with no extra liquidation fee; below two-thirds of maintenance margin the position goes to backstop liquidation and the maintenance margin is not returned. source ↗
2. Maintenance margin is usually half the initial margin at maximum leverage. In cross margin all cross positions share collateral, so one losing position can liquidate the whole cross balance. source ↗
3. The mark price is a median of the index price, a smoothed index price, the SoDEX local price and an external perp mid price, and is also used for unrealized PnL. source ↗
4. Funding is paid every hour between longs and shorts and is capped at 4% per hour. source ↗

5. Withdraw

1. A withdrawal can fail if risk controls flag the destination address as high-risk, if the network is congested or if the address does not match the network. For a flagged address, use a different address rather than retrying the same one. source ↗
2. Funds in the futures (Perps) account move to Spot first and then out; Perps cannot be withdrawn directly. source ↗
3. Each token has a withdrawal fee and minimum. For USDC the fee is 1 USDC and the minimum is 5 USDC on most chains (2 USDC on Polygon). source ↗
4. Unrealized profit does not increase the amount you can withdraw from the margin account; close the position first to free it. source ↗

6. Common mistakes

1. Deposits land in your Spot account. Collateral counts toward futures margin only after you transfer it to the Margin & Futures account. source ↗
2. Non-USDC collateral (BTC, ETH, XAUT, SOL and others) works only in cross margin and counts at a haircut; isolated positions must use USDC. Losses, fees and funding are always settled in USDC, so a shortfall shows as a negative USDC balance. source ↗
3. A stop-loss with a limit price equal to its trigger may not fill if the price gaps through it. A TP/SL attached to an order that only partly fills stays inactive if you cancel the rest. source ↗
4. Positions over 100,000 USDC are liquidated in steps: 20% first, then a 30-second cooldown, after which the rest may be closed. 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.