Hyperliquid Builder Codes Explained: How Third-Party Apps Earn Fees On-Chain

One important distinction: “builder” here has nothing to do with block builders in blockchain consensus. It refers to DeFi application developers who build products on top of Hyperliquid’s infrastructure.

How Builder Codes Work

The builder code system has three moving parts: approval, attribution, and collection.

1. User Approval

Before any builder can charge you a fee, you must explicitly approve a maximum fee rate for that builder’s address. This happens through a wallet signature (the ApproveBuilderFee action), and it must be signed from your main wallet, not an API or agent wallet.

You set the ceiling. If you approve a builder for 0.05%, they can never charge more than that on your trades, regardless of what they request. You can revoke approval at any time.

2. Order Attribution

When an app places a trade on your behalf, it attaches a builder parameter to the order: {"b": "0xBuilderAddress", "f": 50}. The "b" field is the builder’s wallet address and "f" is the fee in tenths of a basis point.

3. Fee Collection

Builder fees are processed entirely on-chain as part of Hyperliquid’s fee logic. Fees accumulate in the builder’s account and can be claimed through the referral reward system. Every builder’s trade data is publicly available in compressed format for full transparency.

Builder Fee Math: Tenths of a Basis Point

The fee parameter (f) is expressed in tenths of a basis point. This is the most commonly misunderstood part of builder codes. Here is a conversion table:

f value Basis Points Percentage Fee on $10K Trade 1 0.1 bps 0.001% $0.10 10 1 bp 0.01% $1.00 15 1.5 bps 0.015% $1.50 50 5 bps 0.05% $5.00 100 10 bps 0.10% $10.00

Maximum caps: 10 bps (0.10%) for perpetuals, 100 bps (1.00%) for spot. Builder fees are added on top of Hyperliquid’s standard trading fees. They apply to both sides of perp trades. For spot, they only apply to the sell side.

Quick formula: Your builder fee = (trade size) × (f ÷ 100,000). Example: A $50,000 BTC-PERP trade through an app with f = 15 costs $50,000 × (15 ÷ 100,000) = $7.50 in builder fees.

How Hyperdash Uses Builder Codes

Hyperdash charges a 1.5 basis point fee (0.015%) on trades executed through the terminal. In builder code terms, that is f = 15. This fee funds ongoing development of analytics dashboards, whale tracking, copy trading, liquidation heatmaps, and everything else that makes Hyperdash a more powerful trading environment.

On a $10,000 trade, the Hyperdash builder fee is $1.50. Hyperdash also offers tiered cashbacks based on your 30-day trading volume:

Tier Min. 30D Volume Cashback

Wood $0 5%

Bronze $100K 10%

Silver $3M 12.5%

Gold $10M 15%

Platinum $100M 17.5%

Diamond $250M 20%

Obsidian $500M 22.5%

At the Obsidian tier, your effective builder fee drops to roughly 1.16 bps while still getting access to the full Hyperdash trading suite.

Why Builder Codes Matter for the Ecosystem

The builder code ecosystem has generated over $40 million in total revenue for developers. Roughly 40% of Hyperliquid’s daily active users now trade through third-party frontends. The top builders, including Based, Phantom, and PVP.trade, have collectively earned over $31 million in fees.

Phantom alone earns over $100,000 per day from Hyperliquid trades routed through its wallet. PVP.trade has earned $7.2 million in lifetime builder code revenue. Neither launched a token. Neither charges subscription fees.

Builder codes create a sustainable growth loop: developers build useful tools, users adopt them for better UX, builders earn fees proportional to value created, more developers are attracted to build, and Hyperliquid’s liquidity deepens. Revenue is directly tied to usage: if traders stop using a tool, the builder stops earning.

Becoming a builder requires just 100 USDC in a Hyperliquid perpetuals account. There is no application process, no approval committee, no partnership negotiations. This low barrier means anyone from a solo developer with a Telegram bot to a company like Phantom can integrate and start earning immediately.

Builder Codes vs Referral Codes

Feature Builder Code Referral Code

Who uses it App developers Individual users

How it works Fee on trades routed through app Discount/rebate for referred users

Requires 100 USDC + code integration Existing HL account

Revocable Yes, anytime One-time assignment

Builder codes and referral codes can stack. If you trade through Hyperdash (builder code) and were referred by a friend (referral code), both systems apply independently.

What This Means for You as a Trader

You are always in control. Builder fees require your explicit approval, and you set the maximum. No app can charge you more than what you have approved.

Fees are transparent and on-chain. Every builder fee is processed as part of Hyperliquid’s L1 execution. There are no off-chain hidden charges.

You are paying for value. Builder fees fund the tools that give you an edge: better analytics, copy trading, smarter interfaces, mobile access. If an app is not providing enough value to justify its fee, you can revoke access and trade directly on Hyperliquid’s native UI at zero builder fee.

The Bigger Picture: HIP-3 and Beyond

Builder codes are part of Hyperliquid’s broader economic design, which includes HIP-3, the mechanism for permissionless market deployment. Together, these systems create an ecosystem where builders can deploy new perpetual markets, build custom interfaces, and earn fees at multiple levels.

Hyperliquid’s fee structure directs fees to the community (HLP, the HYPE assistance fund which burns tokens, and deployers) rather than insiders. As more builders integrate, expect increasingly specialized tools: AI-powered trading copilots, region-specific interfaces, and institutional-grade execution platforms, all plugging into the same deep liquidity.

Hyperdash Tip: You can see Hyperdash’s builder fee structure and your current tier on the Profile page. Track how top traders use various frontends, and check your cashback rate to make sure you are getting the best value for your volume.

New Articles: 38 – 49

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Stablecoins, Airdrops, Orderbooks & Advanced Strategies

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Tier 2 — Timely & Strong SEO 44. HIP-3: Permissionless Perpetual Markets on Hyperliquid 45. Trading Tokenized Commodities: Gold & Silver Perps On-Chain 46. What Is DeFi? Decentralized Finance Explained for Traders 47. USDC vs USDT: Which Stablecoin Should Traders Use?

48. Crypto Airdrops Explained: How They Work & How to Qualify 49. What Is Auto-Deleveraging (ADL) & How It Affects Trades

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