How to start trading on Paradex

1. Create an account

1. You can onboard with an EVM wallet such as MetaMask by signing a Sign-In with Ethereum message. Your Paradex account is then derived from your wallet address. source ↗
2. Starknet wallets are also supported, and so are email or social logins. Email and social logins create an embedded wallet secured by Privy. source ↗
3. An email or social wallet can be exported to another wallet app. Open the user menu, go to Wallet, then choose Export Embedded Wallet. source ↗

2. Deposit collateral

1. Paradex currently accepts only USDC as collateral. The maximum deposit is 500,000 USDC per transaction. source ↗
2. From Ethereum, open the Portfolio tab, click Deposit, enter the amount and confirm Initiate Deposit to Bridge in your wallet. Your first deposit may also ask you to approve a USDC spending cap. Funds arrive after the Ethereum transaction confirms, which can take a few minutes. source ↗
3. From other chains, such as Arbitrum, Base, Solana or BSC, pick the source chain and a bridge provider in the Deposit window. Hyperlane and Layerswap are integrated in the app. source ↗
4. To deposit from a centralized exchange, click Deposit, choose the same network you will withdraw on, and select Layerswap. Layerswap then gives you an address to send USDC to from the exchange. source ↗

3. Open your first position

1. The available order types are Limit, Market, Stop, Scaled and TWAP. You can also set Post-only, Reduce-only, GTC and IOC instructions. source ↗
2. For a market order you only enter the amount. It fills at the best available prices, always as a taker, and the final price can move in thin or volatile markets. source ↗
3. Paradex offers cross margin and isolated margin. Portfolio margin is also available in beta. source ↗
4. Leverage defaults to the market's maximum, and you can lower it. Initial margin equals 1 divided by your chosen leverage, applied to your open size. source ↗

4. Know how liquidation works

1. An account is liquidated when its margin ratio goes above 100%. Paradex first liquidates part of the account, cutting positions in 20% steps until the margin ratio is below 90%, and charges a penalty that goes to the insurance fund. source ↗
2. The perp mark price is the Pyth/Stork spot oracle price adjusted by a fair basis. That basis combines Paradex's own quotes with prices from external venues. source ↗

5. Withdraw

1. To withdraw to Ethereum, open Portfolio, click Withdraw, enter the amount and click Initiate Withdrawal to Bridge. Funds reach your wallet automatically once they are available on Ethereum (L1). source ↗
2. Withdrawals through the native bridge must first be proven on Ethereum. The 'Pending - L2' status can take up to 8 hours to update. source ↗
3. To withdraw to other chains or to an exchange, click Withdraw, choose the network, paste the destination address and select Layerswap. Paradex says funds usually arrive within a few minutes. source ↗

6. Common mistakes

1. Do not send funds directly from a public Starknet wallet to your Paradex address. Paradex says this is not supported and will lose the funds, so use a cross-chain bridge partner instead. source ↗
2. Orders placed in the web app are Retail Orders and are limited to 3 per second and 1,000 per 24 hours. Going over these limits switches the account to Pro Order treatment, which uses the Pro fee schedule. source ↗
3. When you deposit or withdraw through a bridge or an exchange, select the same network on both sides. 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.