FAQ & Fees
whale.ag is a self-custodial Hyperliquid terminal, so most questions come down to the same two things: what it costs, and who controls the money. The short version is that costs are minimal and the money is always yours. The rest of this page answers what people ask most before they trade.
Fees
There are only a few costs, and none of them touch the balance sitting in your account. Trades carry Hyperliquid’s native builder fee — a small fee a trading interface can attach to the orders you sign — which you approve once and then forget about. Withdrawing USDC to Arbitrum costs a flat $1 network fee, in a single signature and with no gas from you. If you withdraw to a chain other than Arbitrum, whale.ag adds a small fee on that extra cross-chain bridge leg only; the direct Arbitrum path never carries it.
| Fee | What it is | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Builder fee | Hyperliquid’s native builder-fee on signed orders; approved once, then automatic | On trades placed in the terminal |
| Withdraw / network fee | Flat $1 to withdraw USDC to Arbitrum | On every withdrawal |
| Cross-chain bridge fee | A small fee on the extra bridge leg to a non-Arbitrum chain | Only on the cross-chain leg, never on the direct Arbitrum path |
Because your funds live in your own Hyperliquid account the whole time, there is nothing held in escrow and no account-maintenance cost.
Is whale.ag custodial?
No. whale.ag is fully non-custodial. The wallet you connect is your Hyperliquid account, so whale.ag never takes custody of your funds and cannot move them. Only you can.
Do you hold my private keys?
No. Your keys never leave your wallet — whale.ag never sees or stores them. Every action that moves money is signed by you on your own device.
What is Hyperliquid?
Hyperliquid is the high-performance Layer-1 perpetuals exchange that whale.ag runs on. When you trade here you are trading on Hyperliquid directly, from your own account; whale.ag is the terminal on top of it, not an intermediary that holds anything.
Can the trade key withdraw my funds?
No. If you enable one-approval trading, whale.ag creates a browser-local trade-only key that can place, modify, and cancel orders — but it can never withdraw or transfer funds. Moving money always requires your own wallet signature.
How long do withdrawals take?
About five minutes to Arbitrum, in a single signature and with no gas required from you. Withdrawing to another chain adds a short bridge step on top of that.
Which chains can I deposit from?
Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, Optimism, Polygon, and Solana, plus a card on-ramp to buy USDC directly. Whatever the origin, your deposit lands in your own Hyperliquid account.
Is there a minimum deposit?
There is no minimum to fund your account — deposit any amount, and the app shows exactly what you will receive after network fees before you confirm. Deploying a copy-trading agent is the one exception: that requires a minimum of $250.
How does copy trading work?
You pick a trader and deploy an agent that mirrors their fills into your own account, sized proportionally to your allocation. When they open, add to, or close a position, your agent does the same at your scale — non-custodially, since the funds never leave your account.
What languages are supported?
Twenty-one, including right-to-left languages like Arabic and Hebrew. You can switch anytime from settings.
How do I earn as a referrer or KOL?
Share your referral link and earn a share of the builder fee from everyone you bring in, with the rate rising as your all-time volume grows — see Referrals & Battle Pass. Communities and business partners get a full affiliate portal with a downline, payouts, and on-chain claims, covered in Affiliates & BDM.