How to start trading on Ostium

1. Create an account

1. Open app.ostium.com and click Connect. You can log in with an email address (a verification code is sent from no-reply@privy.io) or with an Arbitrum-compatible wallet such as MetaMask, Rabby or Coinbase Wallet. Both methods are non-custodial and trading settles on Arbitrum. source ↗
2. Email login creates a smart account with platform-sponsored gas, so you need no ETH, and 1-click trading is on by default. Wallet users pay gas in ETH on Arbitrum and can turn on 1-click trading in profile settings. Smart (email) accounts deduct 2 USDC from the balance to cover gas for future withdrawals. source ↗
3. Email and wallet logins create separate accounts that cannot be merged. source ↗

2. Deposit collateral

1. You need USDC on Arbitrum in your connected wallet. There is no separate Ostium balance: margin is locked by the smart contracts when you open a trade and returned when you close. source ↗
2. Ways to get it there: send USDC on Arbitrum from another wallet, withdraw USDC from an exchange choosing the Arbitrum network, bridge from Ethereum (for example Stargate or Across), or use the built-in Fund Account on-ramp run by third party Fun.xyz, which swaps tokens from other chains into Arbitrum USDC. source ↗
3. There is no minimum deposit, but each pair has a minimum collateral per trade (typically $10–$100 USDC). source ↗

3. Open your first position

1. Choose a market (stocks, ETFs, commodities, indices, forex or crypto), pick Long or Short, set leverage and enter your USDC collateral. Leverage ranges from 1x up to the pair's cap, as high as 200x. source ↗
2. Order types are Market, Limit and Stop. Cancelling a pending limit order costs $0.10. You can add an optional take-profit and stop-loss, then review the summary and click Submit. source ↗
3. At open, a one-time opening fee on notional size (set per pair; Ostium's live fee table currently shows about 1-6 bps, crypto highest) and a $0.10 oracle fee are deducted from your collateral. The oracle fee is refunded on a successful full close. source ↗

4. Know how liquidation works

1. Liquidation is automatic, with no margin calls. At a pair's maximum leverage it triggers at a 75% loss of collateral; at lower leverage the threshold is deeper (for example 97.5% at 20x on a 200x pair). source ↗
2. After liquidation there is no partial recovery: all remaining collateral is kept by the protocol. source ↗
3. Ostium has no funding rate. Instead a rollover fee accrues per block on every pair, based on the underlying asset's carry cost plus Ostium's premium; it can be paid or received and it moves your liquidation price closer over time. source ↗

5. Withdraw

1. Click Close on a position to exit at the current bid (longs) or ask (shorts); collateral plus or minus PnL goes back to your wallet. Partial closes are possible and cost a $0.10 oracle fee each. source ↗
2. You can also remove part of the collateral from an open position for a $0.10 oracle fee, which raises leverage and moves the liquidation price closer. Adding collateral is free. source ↗
3. Profitable closes within the first 15 seconds pay an early-close fee that falls from 40 bps to 0; other closes have no closing fee. source ↗

6. Common mistakes

1. Only send USDC on Arbitrum to your account address. Other tokens or other chains risk permanent loss and cannot be recovered through Ostium. source ↗
2. Stocks trade Monday to Friday, 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM ET. Positions with leverage above a stock's overnight cap (typically 5x–20x) are auto-closed at 3:45 PM ET. Outside market hours market orders are rejected and limit/stop orders queue, so prices can gap at the open. source ↗
3. A stop-loss executes as a market close when the mid-price crosses it, so slippage is possible in volatile markets, and it cannot be set beyond the liquidation price. 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.