> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.alphayou.net/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What is Hyperliquid

> The exchange AlphaYou is built on top of, and why that matters for you.

Hyperliquid is a decentralized exchange for trading crypto perpetuals (leveraged contracts that track an asset's price without an expiry date). What makes it different from most exchanges is that it isn't a company holding your money behind a login screen, it's a blockchain built specifically to run a trading exchange on-chain.

## Why that matters in plain terms

**Nobody but you controls your funds.** On a typical centralized exchange, you deposit money and the exchange holds it. On Hyperliquid, you trade directly from your own wallet. There is no company account standing between you and your money.

**Every trade is public.** Positions, order history, and account performance are all recorded on-chain and visible to anyone. That's precisely what lets AlphaYou verify a trader's real track record instead of taking their word for it.

**It's fast.** Hyperliquid's order book runs on-chain but is built to handle very high trading volume with near-instant order placement, so it feels like using a normal exchange rather than waiting on typical blockchain confirmation times.

## Perpetuals and shares

A perpetual follows an asset's price without an expiry date. For a stock, that means a contract that tracks the share price on Hyperliquid (for example `xyz:NVDA`). It is not the share. You trade the price move, long or short, with leverage, and you get no ownership, votes or dividends.

Company figures, earnings and headlines beside a stock perpetual describe the company, not the contract. Smart money coverage counts qualified public-feed traders with confirmed position snapshots; where fewer are covered, the app says so. Nothing on AlphaYou is advice.

## How AlphaYou fits in

AlphaYou is not Hyperliquid, and it doesn't replace it. AlphaYou is a layer on top: we read Hyperliquid's public trading data to find and score good traders, and when you copy someone, your trades are placed directly on Hyperliquid, from your own wallet. See [how copying works](https://docs.alphayou.net/how-copying-works.md) for exactly what permission AlphaYou does and doesn't have.


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