Position Size

Risk-based position sizing inverts the usual question. Instead of asking "how many contracts should I buy", you ask "how much am I willing to lose on this trade", then derive contracts from the stop distance. This keeps your loss per trade constant regardless of volatility.

A trader with a $10,000 account risking 1% per trade is risking $100 per loss. If the entry is $50,000 and the stop is at $49,500 (a $500 stop distance), the position size in contracts is $100 / $500 = 0.2 contracts. Doubling the stop distance to $1,000 halves the position size to 0.1 contracts, keeping the dollar risk constant.

Naive position sizing ignores fees and slippage. On Hyperliquid, taker fees are typically 4.5 basis points and slippage on large orders can add 5-10 basis points more. A position sized to risk exactly $100 will actually lose closer to $115-$125 once costs are included. Proper sizers include the round-trip cost in the denominator.

How PerpLog uses Position Size

PerpLog's Position Sizer accounts for your actual Hyperliquid fee tier (including HYPE staking discount), entry fees, exit fees, and an Adaptive Slippage Buffer derived from your historical fills (mean + 1 standard deviation). The displayed risk is what you actually risk, not what a textbook formula assumes.

Related reading

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