Opening a Position
A step-by-step guide to opening a leveraged perps position on Ritdex — choosing side, order type and leverage, and attaching take-profit / stop-loss.
Opening a position means committing margin to a long (profit if price rises) or short (profit if price falls) trade with leverage. This page walks the full flow, from picking a market to attaching take-profit and stop-loss.
Step by step
- Pick a market — search the token selector by ticker (BTC, TSLA, GOLD…).
- Choose margin mode & leverage — Cross or Isolated (Perps Basics), then set leverage for this market. The panel shows your resulting position size and liquidation price before you confirm.
- Choose an order type — Market to fill now, or Limit to set your entry price.
- Enter size — in the asset, in USDC, or as a % of available margin.
- (Optional) Attach TP/SL — set take-profit and stop-loss levels now so your exits are automatic.
- Buy / Long or Sell / Short to submit.
Order types
- Market — fills immediately at the best price. Simplest way in.
- Limit — rests on the book and fills only at your price or better.
- Stop / trigger — activates a market or limit order once price hits a level.
- TWAP — slices a large order into smaller pieces over time to reduce market impact.
Leverage & margin mode
Margin and PnL are shared across all open positions on the account. Efficient use of capital, but a liquidation can affect every position at once.
A fixed amount of margin is allocated to a single position. Margin and PnL are not shared — only that position is at risk if it's liquidated.
Leverage is set per market. Before you confirm, the panel displays:
- Position size = margin × leverage
- Liquidation price — where the position would be force-closed
- Fees — the builder fee attached to the fill (Fees)
Choose Isolated to cap risk to one position, or Cross to share margin across the account. Set the leverage you actually want before submitting — bots and copy-trades honour your account's per-market leverage.
Check the liquidation price every time. If it sits too close to the current price, lower your leverage or reduce size before confirming.
Take-profit & stop-loss (TP/SL)
TP/SL turns your plan into automatic exits:
- Take-profit closes the position once price reaches your target.
- Stop-loss closes it once price falls to your maximum acceptable loss.
You can attach TP/SL while opening, or add it later from the open position. Both are standard triggers executed on Hyperliquid.
A stop-loss is the single most effective habit for surviving leverage. Set one on every position so a fast move can't erase your margin while you're away.
Once you're in a trade, see Viewing & Closing Positions to manage and exit it.