Trading Costs Beyond the Quoted Perp Entry Price
Papertrade's cost model is different from a conventional orderbook perpetual exchange because the position is synthetic and settles against protocol LP accounting.
Official Papertrade documentation · Updated November 5, 2026 · Canonical domain: papertrade.finance
No conventional funding
The documented Papertrade model does not charge the periodic funding rate used by many perpetual exchanges. Positions are synthetic swaps against the protocol LP rather than a long and short contract pair that needs a recurring funding mechanism.
Spread and trade-size slippage
Papertrade uses Hyperliquid BBO-mid as its execution reference rather than consuming a Papertrade orderbook. The documented model therefore distinguishes itself from orderbook spread and trade-size slippage. That does not mean every profitable close receives raw PnL without adjustment.
Asymmetric impact on profitable PnL
Profitable closes can be reduced by the protocol's asymmetric impact function. This is a settlement rule, not orderbook slippage. The impact depends on the documented parameters and position context.
Other economic effects
Liquidation can forfeit isolated margin. Eligible realised losses can mint PAPER under the emission curve. Staking revenue is variable protocol revenue rather than a guaranteed fixed APY. Always separate trading PnL, PAPER token emissions and USDC staking distributions when evaluating total economics.
Related Papertrade Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Papertrade charge funding?
The documented model does not use conventional periodic funding costs.
Does Papertrade have orderbook slippage?
Papertrade does not use its own matching orderbook for synthetic positions; execution references Hyperliquid BBO-mid, while profitable PnL can still be adjusted by asymmetric impact.
Are PAPER emissions a rebate on trading losses?
PAPER can be minted from eligible losses, but it is a separate token position and should not be treated as a guaranteed one-for-one reimbursement of USDC loss.