⚠︎ Risk warning: leveraged derivatives on unregulated platforms — you can lose everything you deposit. Not investment advice.
How to Start on Derive (2026): Ethereum and USDC Guide
Mechanics verified against official Derive docs on 2026-10-05.
Perpetuals and options are leveraged and can lose your whole deposit, and on Derive a loss that exhausts a risk universe's Security Module is shared across the solvent accounts in that universe. Read the risk disclosure and the review first. Derive's Terms exclude US persons, residents, citizens and tax residents, Australian tax residents, Ontario residents, and restricted or sanctioned persons. If that is you, stop here — this guide does not cover access workarounds.
Open the app and connect
The mainnet app is app.derive.xyz. Trading actions are "self-custodial signed actions" sent to the API, and the docs also support session keys, multi-sigs and MPC wallets. A testnet at testnet.app.derive.xyz lets you mint test tokens first.
Deposit on Ethereum
Derive v3 settles on Ethereum mainnet (chain ID 1), and deposits are made "via on-chain contract calls". USDC is the cash asset in every universe; BTC and ETH families, stablecoins and DRV are also accepted as collateral, with others depending on the universe. Some collaterals with no native Ethereum token arrive over LayerZero bridges that Derive runs.
Pick a risk universe and margin mode
A subaccount trades inside one universe: Prime (BTC, ETH), Hype, Alt or RWA (XAUT). Margin and PnL do not cross universes. Within it, choose standard margin or portfolio margin; portfolio margin nets risk by scenario and suits hedged option positions.
Trade perps or options
Perps take up to 15.15x on BTC and ETH and less elsewhere. Options are European, settled to a 30-minute TWAP. Perp fees are $0.01 plus 0.03% for takers and 0.01% for makers; multi-leg option trades through RFQ get discounts on the cheaper legs. See the fees page.
Withdraw
"Withdrawals pay out as soon as their batch is verified on L1, subject to withdrawal rate limits." The docs also describe an L1 "escape hatch" for withdrawing directly through Ethereum.
FAQ
Do I need KYC?
Not for trading in the docs read. Some permissioned vaults may require KYC or other checks set by their operator.
Can I trade perps without options?
Yes. The 15 perps trade on the order book like any perp venue; options are optional.
Why can't my BTC position offset my SOL position?
BTC is in the Prime universe and SOL in Alt, and nothing nets across universes.
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