How to Start Trading

Four steps to your first trade on SportsPerp. Devnet today; the same flow applies at mainnet with real USDC.

1. Connect a Solana wallet
2. Get devnet USDC
3. Pick a market
4. Open your first position

Each step has a dedicated guide linked below. Expected total time: ~10 minutes.

What you need

A modern browser (Chrome, Firefox, Brave, Edge).
One of: Phantom, Solflare, or Backpack wallet installed.
~0.05 SOL on Solana devnet (for transaction fees). Free from the Solana faucet; instructions in step 2.
Some devnet USDC (for collateral). Also free; instructions in step 2.

No KYC. No deposit from a centralized exchange. Self-custody from the first click.

Step 1 — Connect a wallet

Install a wallet, switch it to devnet, and connect it to the SportsPerp app. See Connecting a Wallet for detailed instructions.

Step 2 — Get devnet USDC

Solana devnet is a free testing environment. You’ll need two things:

Devnet SOL for transaction fees (< 0.01 SOL per trade).
Devnet USDC for position collateral (suggested: start with 1,000 USDC).

See Getting Devnet USDC for the faucet links and SportsPerp’s own devnet USDC mint.

Step 3 — Pick a market

SportsPerp has 68 markets at launch: 20 EPL clubs + 48 EPL players. Browse them from the main dashboard.

Team markets are more stable; driven by overall season performance.
Player markets are more volatile; driven by individual form, minutes, injuries, and transfer rumors.

Each market’s index value ranges 100–900:

500 = population average (team: league-average; player: position-group-average)
> 600 = one standard deviation above average — solidly above average
> 700 = two standard deviations above — elite
< 400 = below average
< 300 = bottom of the league / position group

The market page shows: current index value, candle chart (1m / 1H / 4H / 1D), open interest (long vs short), funding rate, and next upcoming match (for team markets).

Step 4 — Open your first position

On the market page, the order panel has:

Direction — Long (you think the index goes up) or Short (goes down)
Collateral amount — USDC you’re putting up (min 10 USDC)
Leverage — 1x through 5x, subject to tier caps

Preview the trade — the UI shows your effective leverage after tier caps apply, the liquidation price (mark at which partial liquidation triggers), estimated fee (10 bps of notional), and current funding rate.

Confirm → sign in wallet → position opens. Total latency: ~5 seconds on devnet, ~1 second on mainnet.

See Your First Trade for a walkthrough with screenshots.

After you open

Your position now appears in the Portfolio tab. From there you can:

Monitor PnL in real-time (updates every tick).
Add or remove collateral to adjust your effective leverage.
Place Stop Loss / Take Profit triggers to automate your exit plan.
Close at any time — fully or partially.

Positions accrue funding every 8 hours. Positions close at the current composite mark price. Realized PnL flows to your wallet; you never need to “withdraw” separately.

Common first-trade questions

Q: Do I need to know football? No. You can trade SportsPerp the way people trade any index — pick a market, form a view, manage risk. Football knowledge helps but isn’t required.

Q: What’s the worst case? You lose your collateral. You cannot owe the protocol money — see SportsPerp 101 → Can I lose more than I deposit?.

Q: Can I open multiple positions on the same market? Not today — one position per (wallet, market). Open a long and a short on the same market by using two wallets, or wait for sub-account support.

Q: How often does the price update? Between matches, every 5 minutes from the oracle. During live matches, near-real-time as events come in. See Real-Time vs Post-Match.

Q: Can I close during a live match? Yes. Markets never pause for matches — live matches are specifically the most interesting time to trade.