Most apps built on hyperliquid, hypercopy included, are paid through builder fees: a small percentage of each order they route, deducted by the exchange and paid to the app. It is how a front-end can be free to install, hold no funds and still exist. This page explains the mechanism so that the approval you sign makes sense.
what a builder code is
When an app submits an order for you, it can attach a builder field: the app's address and a fee rate. Hyperliquid then charges that fee on the fill, in addition to its own trading fee, and credits it to the builder's address. Settlement is automatic and on-chain; there is no invoice, no off-chain billing.
The protocol caps the rate: 0.1% on perps and 1% on spot. Rates are expressed in tenths of a basis point, so 0.05% is written as 50.
the approval
Before an app can attach a builder fee to your orders, you sign one message from your master wallet: approveBuilderFee, naming the builder's address and a maximum rate. The exchange refuses any order with a higher rate for that builder. An agent key cannot sign this; only your master wallet can, which is why hypercopy asks for it at activation and then never again unless the rate changes.
The approval is per builder address. Approving hypercopy's builder does not let anyone else charge you.
what hypercopy charges
0.05% of the notional of each perps order it places, entries and exits, and of each spot sale (spot buys carry no builder fee). That is half the protocol cap on perps and the common rate among hyperliquid front-ends. A referral link lowers it, by 10% to 50%, never above the rate you approved. Hypercopy charges nothing else: no subscription, no profit share, no spread.
Two details from hypercopy's engine:
- entries are refused if the builder approval is missing, so you are never charged more than you approved and never trade without having agreed to the terms;
- reduce-only exits always go out, with or without the builder field, so a missing approval can never keep you stuck in a position.
how it shows in your account
On hyperliquid, each fill shows a fee. For a copied order, that fee is hyperliquid's own (0.045% taker at the base tier) plus the builder fee. A $1,000 copied entry shows about $0.95 of fee: $0.45 for the exchange, $0.50 for hypercopy. Your hypercopy portfolio shows PnL net of both. See fees and pricing.
why builder fees rather than a subscription
They scale with use. A follower copying two trades a week pays cents; a follower copying twenty trades a day pays more because they use more. And because hyperliquid collects the fee, hypercopy never needs to hold your money or bill a card.
faq
can hypercopy raise the fee without asking?
No. The rate you approved is a maximum enforced by the exchange. A higher rate needs a new signature.
can i revoke the builder approval?
Yes, on hyperliquid, by approving a rate of 0 for the builder address. Hypercopy would then refuse to open new copies for you, but would still close positions.
is the builder fee charged on orders that do not fill?
No. It is a fee on fills.
does the fee apply to spot?
On sales only. Hypercopy copies spot too, at the same 0.05%, well under the 1% spot cap; hyperliquid takes no builder fee on a spot buy, so a spot copy pays it when it sells.
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