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

# Self-custody: who holds your money

> Your money stays in your own Hyperliquid account; what Hypertake can and can't do with it, and where trust is involved

Source: https://hypertake.net/docs/security/self-custody · Last updated: 2026-10-17

**Hypertake is self-custodial: your money sits in your own Hyperliquid account, under your wallet's address, and Hypertake can't move it.** Hypertake reads your account and sends the orders you place; every withdrawal needs your own wallet's signature.

There is no Hypertake account, no Hypertake wallet and no Hypertake smart contract holding funds. Your USDC balance, your outcome shares and your perps positions are records on Hyperliquid's blockchain, owned by your address. Anyone can look them up, and any Hyperliquid interface can show them.

**Where your money is at each step**

Your wallet (USDC or ETH on Arbitrum) → Relay (a bridge, only while a deposit is in transit) → Your Hyperliquid account (balance, shares, positions) → Your wallet (withdrawals return here, signed by you)

Hypertake sits beside this flow, not inside it: it shows your account and sends your orders to Hyperliquid.

## What Hypertake can and can't do

| Action | Can Hypertake do it? | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Read your balance, positions and history | Yes | It's public data on Hyperliquid. Hypertake reads it from Hyperliquid's API in your browser. |
| Place an order | Only when you press the button | Orders are signed by the trading key in your browser, approved by your wallet. No code path places an order by itself. |
| Cancel an order or change leverage | Only when you press the button | Also signed by the trading key. |
| Withdraw your money | No | A withdrawal is signed by your own wallet every time, and always goes to your connected address. |
| Send money to another address | No | Transfers are user-signed actions that need your wallet's signature. |
| Charge more than you approved | No | Hyperliquid enforces the 1% maximum you approved for Hypertake's builder fee. |
| Recover a lost wallet | No | Your wallet's keys are the account. There's no reset. |

## Where you do trust someone

Self-custody doesn't mean trusting nobody. These are the places where you rely on something other than your own wallet, said plainly.

- **Hyperliquid**: Holds the balances, matches the orders and settles the markets. If Hyperliquid's chain failed, your money there would be affected. Hypertake can't change that.
- **Relay, during a deposit**: In-app deposits go through Relay, a third-party bridge, for the seconds it takes to reach Hyperliquid. If Relay can't complete a deposit, it refunds it to your wallet. See [Deposits](https://hypertake.net/docs/money/deposit.md).
- **The code on hypertake.net**: The trading key is encrypted in your browser, but code running on hypertake.net can use it: that's how one-click orders work. So you trust the site's code to place only the orders you press. The key can't withdraw. See [The trading key](https://hypertake.net/docs/security/trading-key.md).
- **The market's deployer**: Most outcome markets are settled by the deployer that created them, by the rules of their template. See [How markets settle](https://hypertake.net/docs/outcomes/settlement.md).

## Your wallet is your account

Hypertake asks for no email, name, password or ID. You connect a wallet and that address is your account. This keeps your details off Hypertake's server, and it also means there's nobody to call if you lose the wallet: whoever holds its recovery phrase controls the money.

_Illustration: An illustration of the forms other apps ask for (email address, full name, date of birth, a photo of your ID) being struck out, then Hypertake's Connect a wallet window offering MetaMask, WalletConnect, OKX Wallet and Coinbase Wallet. MetaMask is chosen, its window asks to connect, and the card settles on the connected address._

> **Warning: Never share your recovery phrase**
> Hypertake never asks for your recovery phrase or private key, and no screen in the app has a field for one. Anyone who asks for it, in a message, a form or a "support" chat, is trying to take your money.

- [Every signature you're asked for](https://hypertake.net/docs/security/signatures.md): Each wallet prompt, what it allows and what it can't do.
- [If Hypertake is offline](https://hypertake.net/docs/security/if-hypertake-is-offline.md): Your positions keep running on Hyperliquid. Here's how to reach them.