Deploying a perp dex (HIP-3)

The first registerAsset2 fixes what can never change. In one signature it names the dex, picks its collateral token and oracle updater, and lists its first asset. No action changes the collateral, a dex name is never released, and cross margin on an asset is permanent. Standard: HIP-3.

From stake to trading in 5 steps

1. Hold the stake

The deployer needs 500k HYPE (100 on testnet) in its own HyperCore staking account for at least 183 days after deployment. Delegated and undelegated both count: several testnet dexes run on undelegated HYPE alone. It does not also count towards a HIP-4 venue and cannot be borrowed: a staking link got a HIP-4 activation refused (deployer economics).

2. Check the auction

Assets after the first 3 go through a Dutch auction shared by every dex, with HIP-1 parameters (see the numbers):

{ "type": "perpDeployAuctionStatus" }

{ "startTimeSeconds": 1747656000, "durationSeconds": 111600,
  "startGas": "500.0", "currentGas": "500.0", "endGas": null }

Prices are in HYPE. On mainnet the auction that opened at 16:00 UTC on 2026-11-02 started at about 1,172.84 HYPE and read about 572.56 HYPE at 19:39 UTC on 2026-11-03, falling linearly to 500 (the HIP-1 rules; testnet showed currentGas 500 on 2026-09-20). maxGas, in HYPE wei, caps what you pay: omit it to pay the current price, or set 0 to spend one of the 7 reserve deployments the docs allow today, without waiting. A maxGas of 0 always spends a reserve, even with the auction open, so query first.

3. Create the dex and its first asset

registerAsset2 with a non-null schema creates the dex and its first asset. A live testnet creation, dex name changed:

{
  "type": "perpDeploy",
  "registerAsset2": {
    "assetRequest": {
      "coin": "abc:BTC",
      "szDecimals": 4,
      "oraclePx": "65000",
      "marginTableId": 10,
      "marginMode": "normal"
    },
    "dex": "abc",
    "schema": {
      "fullName": "ABC perps",
      "collateralToken": 0,
      "oracleUpdater": null
    }
  }
}

Field	Meaning
coin	the asset’s full name, dex:COIN
szDecimals	size decimals; see below for how to choose
oraclePx	the starting oracle price, a decimal string
marginTableId	the margin table, which alone sets maximum leverage
marginMode	strictIsolated, noCross or normal
dex	2 to 4 lowercase characters
schema.fullName	the dex’s display name
schema.collateralToken	token index of the collateral; 0 is USDC
schema.oracleUpdater	the address allowed to push prices; null means the deployer
schema.isStar	optional, default false; true makes an allowlisted HIP-3* dex, testnet only per the docs (star dexes)

Counting on a constant 1B-unit size open interest cap (see the numbers), the docs suggest a smallest increment worth 1 to 10 USD at the starting price. Here, 0.0001 BTC at 65000 is worth 6.5 USD.

4. Add more assets

Send registerAsset2 again with the same dex and schema: null, one asset per call; the fourth and later pay the auction.

5. Open trading

Every new asset starts halted until the deployer sends:

{ "type": "perpDeploy", "haltTrading": { "coin": "abc:BTC", "isHalted": false } }

One early codebase declared its dex live without this step. Start the oracle loop before anyone trades (operating a perp dex).

marginMode replaced onlyIsolated

registerAsset2 replaces the original registerAsset’s onlyIsolated: boolean with marginMode:

marginMode	Meaning
strictIsolated	isolated only, and isolated margin cannot be withdrawn from an open position
noCross	isolated only
normal	no restriction

One SDK claims normal does not exist; a testnet dex used it on 2026-07-22. meta still reports the deprecated onlyIsolated alongside marginMode (2026-11-03).

Isolated-only costs your traders protection: each dex’s onchain backstop liquidator takes only cross-margin assets, so noCross and strictIsolated assets are more exposed to auto-deleveraging. On 2026-11-03, io and mkts listed no cross-margin asset.

The numbers

Parameter	Value
Stake	500k HYPE mainnet, 100 HYPE testnet, at least 183 days
Dexes per deployer	one mainnet address deploys 2 (km, mkts, 2026-11-03); the docs say 1
Free assets	first 3 per dex
Auction	31 hours, shared across dexes; starts at twice the last price, or 500 HYPE if the last auction failed, and falls to 500 HYPE
Reserve deployments	7 now; 7 + 0.2 * n_auction_deployments
maxGas unit	HYPE wei, 1e8 per HYPE
Dex name	2 to 4 lowercase characters, for registerAsset2 and legacy registerAsset alike; older testnet dexes carry up to 6, some uppercase (2026-11-03)
Max leverage per tier	1 to 50
Tiers per margin table	at most 3
Size open interest cap	perpDexLimits.oiSzCapPerPerp read 10,000,000,000 on 9 dexes and 20,000,000,000 on xyz (2026-11-03), unit undocumented; the docs say a constant 1B per asset
Asset id	100000 + perp_dex_index * 10000 + index_in_meta

Getting the action accepted

• Explicit nulls. Nullable keys must be present as null; omitting one has produced a 422 Failed to deserialize. Worse, a client that drops the key before signing makes the exchange hash its canonical MessagePack with oracleUpdater as nil, recover a different address and report an unknown user (debugging signatures).
• Account checks come first. An unfunded key gets User or API Wallet ... does not exist or Must deposit before performing actions before any stake error.
• One namespace. A HIP-4 venue cannot take a dex name (or spot), and no dex can take a registered venue name. Spot deployer labels must also be unique across perp dexes.
• Signing. Every list of tuples is sorted before signing; key order and trailing zeros are hashed (signing).
• Two docs pages. The HIP-3 deployer actions page has a duplicate. Both now list registerAsset2 and legacy registerAsset with 2 to 4 lowercase dex names, and differ only in the node output flag (operating a perp dex).

Running it once it exists

• Leverage. Tooling defaults to different marginTableIds: set it deliberately (insertMarginTable if none fits) and check maxLeverage in meta.
• Names. meta with {"dex": "abc"} returns prefixed names; prefixing again gave abc:abc:BTC in one codebase. perpDexs lists dexes in index order, entry 0 null (validator-operated), differently per network, so key caches by network.
• Collateral is per dex. In Standard mode, traders and the deployer fund a dex by sendAsset into its name.
• Testnet collateral failed. On 2026-09-20 no new testnet dex could be created: token 0 gave Invalid perp DEX, 5 other tokens Collateral asset not supported, whatever the name, maxGas, margin table, margin mode and schema. Unresolved; the docs say any quote asset works.

To run the dex day to day, see operating a perp dex. For addressing, see asset ids and naming; for what margin modes mean to traders, margin.