Get AlphaShell running on your own infrastructure.

Overview

AlphaShell is software that runs delta neutral basis strategies on your own perp DEX accounts. It runs on infrastructure you control and trades through trade-only agent keys generated there. AlphaShell never receives your keys, never holds your funds and has no access to your systems.

Basis trading explained

Basis trading earns the payments that flow between buyers and sellers of perpetual futures, while keeping exposure to the asset's price close to zero. This section explains how it works for readers new to the strategy.

Perpetual futures

A perpetual future ("perp") is a contract that tracks the price of an asset, such as BTC or ETH, without an expiry date. Traders can go long (profit if the price rises) or short (profit if it falls), usually with USDC as collateral.

The funding rate

To keep the perp price close to the underlying spot price, exchanges apply a funding rate. It is a periodic payment exchanged directly between traders:

• When the perp trades above spot, the funding rate is positive and longs pay shorts.
• When the perp trades below spot, the funding rate is negative and shorts pay longs.

In crypto markets, demand for leveraged long positions usually keeps funding positive, so short positions tend to be paid over time. Rates change constantly and differ from one venue and one pair to another.

Staying delta neutral

"Delta" is a position's sensitivity to price. A delta neutral position combines a long and a short of equal size on the same asset, so that gains on one side offset losses on the other. The position still earns or pays funding on each side. When the funding received is higher than the funding paid, the difference is income that does not depend on where the price goes.

The "basis" is the gap between the perp price and the spot price, or between two venues' prices and funding rates for the same asset. Basis trading captures that gap without betting on direction.

What AlphaShell automates

• Scanning funding rates and basis spreads across the venues and pairs you enable.
• Opening matched long and short positions where the spread clears your minimum threshold.
• Rebalancing when the two legs drift apart, so the position stays neutral.
• Closing or rotating positions when a spread narrows or turns negative.

What can go wrong

• Funding turns against you. Rates can fall or flip negative, reducing or reversing income.
• Liquidation of one leg. A sharp price move can liquidate the losing leg before it is rebalanced, breaking the hedge.
• Execution costs. Trading fees and slippage on entry, exit and rebalancing reduce returns, especially on small or illiquid positions.
• Venue risk. Outages, rule changes, smart contract failures or insolvency of a venue.
• Stablecoin risk. Collateral is held in stablecoins, USDC on most venues and USDG on the Robinhood Chain ones, which could lose their peg.
• Operational risk. The engine only manages positions while it is running: if your machine sleeps or loses connectivity, open positions stay in place unhedged against drift.

Supported venues

AlphaShell trades on perp DEXes where you keep custody of your funds and can authorise a trade-only key. You open and fund each account yourself.

Hyperliquid

Hyperliquid runs its own blockchain, with the order book, matching and settlement all on-chain. Funding is paid every hour, directly between traders, and Hyperliquid takes no cut of it.

Through HIP-3, third-party builders can deploy their own perp markets on Hyperliquid, including markets on non-crypto assets. AlphaShell refers to these as Hyperliquid sub-DEXes. They use the same funding mechanism, but each market's price oracle is set by its deployer, which adds a layer of risk to review.

AlphaShell connects through Hyperliquid's native API wallets: you authorise the agent address from your main wallet, and it can trade but not withdraw.

Extended

Extended is a perp DEX settled on Starknet. Order matching and risk checks run off-chain for speed, while trades are validated and settled on Starknet, and user assets are held in Starknet smart contracts rather than by the operator. It offers crypto and traditional-asset perps with USDC as collateral, and supports standard EVM wallets such as MetaMask.

AlphaShell connects with an API key that you create in your Extended account with trading permissions only.

Lighter

Lighter is a zero-knowledge rollup built for perps and settled on Ethereum. A sequencer orders transactions, and matching, liquidations and funding are proven with zero-knowledge proofs verified on Ethereum, where user funds are held. If the operator stops, users can exit through an escape mechanism on Ethereum.

Lighter offers zero trading fees to retail users on its website, while orders sent through its API can be charged fees. AlphaShell trades through the API, so check Lighter's current fee schedule. AlphaShell connects with an API key registered to your account by signing with your main wallet.

Lighter on Robinhood Chain

Lighter also runs on Robinhood Chain, an Ethereum layer 2. It is the same technology, but a separate exchange: separate accounts, separate API keys and separate markets, with USDG rather than USDC as collateral. A transaction signed for one is rejected by the other.

AlphaShell treats it as its own venue, so you connect it separately and it holds its own credentials. You need a Robinhood Chain account funded in USDG before connecting it.

Arcus

Arcus is a hybrid perp DEX built by the dYdX team in partnership with Robinhood: a central order book matched off-chain, re-checked by a permissioned validator chain, with custody and final settlement on Robinhood Chain. Beyond crypto, it lists perps on equities, index and commodity ETFs, traded around the clock, with USDG as collateral.

AlphaShell connects to Arcus with a key it generates and registers by signing with your main wallet. The key is scoped to a single sub-account and expires, so it has to be renewed. Arcus applies its own eligibility rules, including by country.

Before you start

• An AlphaShell licence key, sent to you after your demo.
• A wallet you control, with an account on each venue you want to trade: Hyperliquid (and its sub-DEXes), Extended, Lighter, Lighter on Robinhood Chain or Arcus.
• Stablecoin collateral deposited in your venue accounts: USDC on Hyperliquid, Extended and Lighter, USDG on the Robinhood Chain venues. We recommend at least $1,000. However, you can run AlphaShell with as little as $50.
• A machine that stays on and online. The engine manages positions only while it is running.

For a single deployment on your own computer or server.

1. Download. Use the download link from your onboarding email and install AlphaShell for your operating system.
2. Activate. Open AlphaShell and enter your licence key.
3. Generate your agent key. AlphaShell creates a trade-only agent key on your machine and shows its public address. The private key never leaves your machine.
4. Approve it on your venue. Authorise the agent key from your wallet on each venue. See approving agent keys.
5. Set your parameters. Choose venues, pairs, leverage bounds, position limits and the minimum funding rate, or keep the defaults.
6. Start. The engine opens and manages delta neutral positions automatically. Track positions and funding earned on the dashboard.

For teams that want AlphaShell inside their own cluster, under their own security controls. We deploy it together with your team.

1. Scoping call. We review your cluster, network rules and secret management, and agree the setup.
2. Deployment package. We provide the AlphaShell Helm chart and configuration for your environment.
3. Deploy together. Your team installs it in a dedicated namespace while we guide the call. We do not need access to your cluster.
4. Generate agent keys. Keys are generated inside your cluster and stored in your secret store. We never see them.
5. Approve and configure. You approve the agent keys on each venue and we set the strategy parameters with you.
6. Go live. We confirm the engine is healthy, connected to each venue and trading within your limits.

For clients who want AlphaShell on a separate, always-on machine, without using their own computers or servers. AlphaShell comes preinstalled on a dedicated device that stays on your premises and runs nothing else.

1. Request a device. Ask us during your demo. We confirm availability, delivery and pricing.
2. Plug it in. Connect the device to power and your internet connection. It needs no inbound ports.
3. Activate. Open the AlphaShell dashboard from your local network and enter your licence key.
4. Generate your agent key. The key is generated on the device and never leaves it. We keep no copy and have no remote access.
5. Approve, configure and start. Approve the agent key on each venue, set your parameters and start the engine, as in option 1.

Approving agent keys

Each venue lets you authorise a key that can trade on your account but cannot withdraw. You sign the approval from your own wallet.

• Hyperliquid: in the Hyperliquid app, go to More › API, paste the agent address and click Authorize API Wallet. This also covers Hyperliquid sub-DEXes.
• Extended: create an API key with trading permissions in your account's API settings and add it to AlphaShell.
• Lighter: register the API key generated by AlphaShell by signing the registration with your main wallet.
• Lighter on Robinhood Chain: the same registration, signed for Robinhood Chain and kept separate from your Lighter mainnet key.
• Arcus: AlphaShell generates a key and registers it by signing with your main wallet; the key is scoped to one sub-account and expires, so it has to be renewed.

Stopping and withdrawing

Close positions from the AlphaShell dashboard, then stop the engine. You can also close positions directly on each venue at any time, with or without AlphaShell running. Withdraw through the venue with your own wallet, and revoke the agent key in the venue's API settings if you stop using AlphaShell.

Support

Every licence includes onboarding. For help, email your onboarding contact or book a call with the team.