Short answer
A Hyperliquid API wallet, also called an agent wallet, is a separate key that your main wallet authorizes to sign orders and cancels for your account. It can trade, but it cannot withdraw or transfer funds: those actions must be signed by your main wallet. That lets a copy trading bot or app trade for you while only you can take money out. CopyHype uses this setup: its trading key can open and close trades and cannot withdraw.
Every trading bot faces the same problem: to trade for you, it needs to sign orders with a key. If that key is your main wallet key, the bot can also empty your wallet. Hyperliquid solves this with API wallets, a second key with a narrower job. Understanding them is the fastest way to judge whether a Hyperliquid bot is non-custodial in practice, not just in marketing.
Part of our Hyperliquid guide.
What is a Hyperliquid API wallet?
An API wallet is a separate key that your main wallet authorizes to sign trading actions for your account. Hyperliquid's docs also call it an agent wallet.
Your main wallet (the "master account") stays the owner. It signs one approval that says, in effect, "this other key may place orders for me". From then on, the API wallet can sign orders and cancels for your account or its sub-accounts, and Hyperliquid accepts them as yours (>Hyperliquid docs, nonces and API wallets).
The API wallet holds no money itself. It only signs. Your positions, your balance and your trade history all stay on your main account.
What can an API wallet do, and what can it not do?
It can place and cancel orders. It cannot withdraw, transfer funds or approve other agents. Those actions need your main wallet's signature.
Hyperliquid separates two kinds of actions. Trading actions, like orders and cancels, can be signed by an approved agent. User-signed actions, like withdrawals, USDC transfers, approving an agent and approving a builder fee, must be signed by the account owner. Chainstack's developer docs summarize it as: agents can only sign trading actions, "not transfers or withdrawals" (>Chainstack).
| Action | Main wallet | API wallet |
|---|---|---|
| Open and close trades | Yes | Yes |
| Cancel orders | Yes | Yes |
| Withdraw USDC | Yes | No |
| Send funds to another address | Yes | No |
| Approve a new agent | Yes | No |
| Approve a builder fee | Yes | No |
Why does this matter for copy trading?
Because a copy bot has to trade while you sleep, and an API wallet lets it do that without being able to take your money.
Compare the three ways a Telegram bot can hold keys:
| Setup | Bot can trade | Bot can withdraw | If the bot's server is hacked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bot holds your money | Yes | Yes | Funds at risk |
| Bot holds your main private key | Yes | Yes | Funds at risk |
| You hold the wallet, bot has an API wallet | Yes | No | Attacker can trade, not withdraw |
The third setup does not make trading safe: an attacker or a bug could still place bad trades. But it removes the worst outcome, a wallet emptied in one transaction. More context: how Telegram trading bots work.
How does CopyHype use API wallets?
When you switch to real money, you approve two things from your own wallet: a trading key for CopyHype, and CopyHype's fee. Neither can withdraw.
- Your wallet. Created with Privy, signed in with your Telegram account. It is non-custodial: only you can withdraw or export its key.
- The trading key. Your wallet approves CopyHype's key as an API wallet. It opens and closes your copies and solo trades.
- The builder fee. Your wallet approves CopyHype's fee of 0.1% per side, through Hyperliquid's builder code system. Hyperliquid caps builder fees at 0.1% on perps.
Only your own wallet can approve the trading key or remove it, and you can export your wallet key from Settings. If CopyHype stopped working, your funds would stay in your wallet and any open positions would stay on Hyperliquid under your address.
What is a builder fee approval?
It is a separate permission, signed by your main wallet, that lets an app add a fee to the orders it sends, up to a maximum you approve. Hyperliquid caps it at 0.1% of the position on perps.
The fee shows up on Hyperliquid next to its own trading fee, so you can see exactly what each app takes. On CopyHype, a $10 trade at x5 is a $50 position: 5 cents to CopyHype on the way in, 5 cents on the way out, plus Hyperliquid's own 0.045% on main markets (0.09% on stocks, gold and indices). Details: Hyperliquid fees explained.
What should I check before approving an agent?
Who it belongs to, what you are signing, and how to revoke it. Approvals are powerful even without withdrawal rights.
- Read the signature request. It should say you are approving an agent or a builder fee, not a withdrawal or a transfer.
- Approve only apps you opened from their official site. A drainer can ask for a signature that looks harmless.
- Know how to revoke. Removing an agent is signed by your main wallet. On CopyHype, you can export your wallet key from Settings, so the account stays yours to manage.
- Do not reuse agent keys. Hyperliquid's docs advise generating a new agent wallet rather than reusing old addresses, because once an agent is deregistered its nonce state may be pruned and old signed actions could be replayed.
That last point is mostly for developers. As a user, the practical rule is simple: approve agents only from apps you trust, and revoke the ones you no longer use.
Can an API wallet still lose my money?
Yes, through trades. It cannot send funds away, but it can open trades that lose.
Protections that limit this:
- Isolated margin. Each trade can lose only its own amount. CopyHype uses it on every trade.
- A fixed amount per trade. You choose it, from $5.
- Practice first. On CopyHype, $1,000 of practice money free for 24 hours, plus 24 hours for each friend you invite whose first trade opens.
Where does the trading key live?
On the app's servers, because it has to sign orders while you are offline. That is the point of an API wallet: it can be kept online without putting withdrawals at risk.
Your main wallet's key is the one that matters for custody, and on CopyHype it is never given to CopyHype: the wallet is created with Privy and signed in with your Telegram account, and only you can withdraw or export it. The trading key sits with CopyHype so copies can happen at 3 am when a whale trades. If that trading key ever leaked, the worst an attacker could do is trade your balance, not move it. Revoking the key stops even that.
How do I check whether a bot uses an API wallet?
Ask one question: "Can you withdraw from my wallet?" If the answer is yes, or unclear, the bot holds more power than it needs.
- Find the custody page. Look for who can withdraw and whether you can export your key.
- Look at what you sign. At setup, the signatures should be an agent approval and a fee approval.
- Check the trading key's limits. It should trade, not withdraw.
- Test a small withdrawal. You, not the bot, should sign it.
- Know how to revoke. Find the switch before you need it.
Frequently asked questions
Is an API wallet the same as a sub-account?
No. A sub-account holds its own balance and positions. An API wallet holds nothing; it only signs trading actions for an account.
Can an API wallet withdraw my USDC?
No. Withdrawals and transfers must be signed by the account owner's wallet.
What happens if I revoke CopyHype's trading key?
New copies and trades stop. Your money and open positions stay where they are, under your address.
Do I need to understand API wallets to use CopyHype?
No. The app sets everything up in two signatures. This page is for people who want to know what happens under the hood.
Can I export my CopyHype wallet key?
Yes. It is your wallet. Keep the key secret: anyone who has it can take the money.
Keep reading
- How Telegram trading bots work: chat bots, Mini Apps and who holds the keysHow a Telegram trading bot places trades: chat bots vs Mini Apps, the three wallet models, what the bot can and cannot do with your money.
- Is Hyperliquid safe? An honest look at what can go wrongIs Hyperliquid safe? Self-custody, validators, HLP, the March 2025 JELLY and ETH incidents, oracle and liquidation design, and how to protect yourself.
- Hyperliquid fees explained: every cost of a trade, in centsHyperliquid fees in plain words: 0.045% taker and 0.015% maker at the base tier, volume tiers, staking discounts, HIP-3, funding and withdrawals.