momentum-carry-combomedium risk
Momentum + Funding Strategy on Hyperliquid
Does a momentum + funding strategy work on Hyperliquid? Backtested on real Hyperliquid perps from 2024-08-15 to 2026-07-05, the default settings earned a Sharpe of 2.01 — +119.7% total return with a 16.3% worst drawdown across 6,401 trades, net of fees, slippage, and funding.
By Keel Research · Data as of 2026-07-05 · how this backtest was produced
Sharpe
2.01
default settings
Total return
+119.7%
Worst drawdown
−16.3%
Trades
6,401
2024-08-15 → 2026-07-05 · net of fees, slippage, and funding · price-only Sharpe 1.84 · 6,401 trades — the numbers already include that turnover cost.
At $1,000, this strategy’s worst historical dip was about $163. Free account, your own Hyperliquid keys — Keel only trades.
How it works
How it works
Each day this strategy ranks the top-30 Hyperliquid perpetuals two ways — by two-week price momentum, and by funding rate — then blends the two 70/30 into a single score. Strong coins with cheap or negative funding get the largest long positions; weak coins with expensive, crowded-long funding get sold short. Momentum captures trends that tend to persist, while the funding tilt steers the book away from crowded longs that are costly to hold and toward shorts that are paid to hold. Funding on a perpetual is both a cost to dodge and a payment to collect, and this pairs the two. It runs balanced long/short at 1x gross and only trades when a position drifts more than 20% from target, which keeps turnover in check.
When it works best
Trending markets with wide dispersion between winners and losers, and with active funding — most of the 2024-2026 window. Because the long and short sides are balanced, it held up across both bull and bear stretches in the test window rather than depending on the market's overall direction. Over 2024-08-15 to 2026-07-05 the default settings returned +119.7% with a Sharpe of 2.01 and a maximum drawdown of −16.3%, net of fees, slippage, and funding.
When it struggles
Sharp momentum reversals, where yesterday's leaders crash and the book is caught leaning the wrong way. The funding tilt softens these but does not remove them. Turnover is also high — 6,401 trades over the window — so fees matter, and the drift buffer is what keeps them manageable.
How it’s built
The exact strategy behind this backtest — no black box. Switch to code to see or copy the full definition.
Configuration
Globalsconfig
target_timeframe1dbar_offset12h
UniverseassetsTop by Volume · HL Perps · 30 assets
Executiontrading
rebalanceBufferedbuffer_threshold0.2buffer_moderelative+1
Pipeline7 steps
PriceDataLoaderData Loader
timeframe15min
TargetTimeframeResamplerData Transform
Parallel2 branches
momentum
ROCIndicator
period14
CrossSectionalZScoreSignal Transform
carry
FundingDataLoaderData Loader
use_cachetrue
SignalResamplerSignal Transform
target_timeframe1dmethodmean
NegateTransformSignal Transform
CrossSectionalZScoreSignal Transform
ForecastCombinerForecast Composer
weights{"momentum":0.7,"carry":0.3}
ForecastScalerForecast Mapper
avg_abs_target10
ForecastCapperForecast Mapper
limit20
ForecastWeightNormalizerPosition Sizer
target_leverage1
Globals(target_timeframe="1d", bar_offset="12h")Universe(mode="top_volume", top_n=30, market="perp", resolved=[], resolved_at="")Execution( rebalance="buffered", buffer_threshold=0.2, buffer_mode="relative", rebalance_method="to_edge",)Pipeline([ PriceDataLoader(timeframe="15min"), TargetTimeframeResampler(), { "momentum": [ROC(period=14), CrossSectionalZScore()], "carry": [ FundingDataLoader(use_cache=True), SignalResampler(target_timeframe="1d", method="mean"), NegateTransform(), CrossSectionalZScore(), ], }, ForecastCombiner(weights={"momentum": 0.7, "carry": 0.3}), ForecastScaler(avg_abs_target=10.0), ForecastCapper(limit=20.0), ForecastWeightNormalizer(target_leverage=1.0),], name="momentum_funding_hyperliquid")Explore the settings
precomputed · updates instantlyAdjust a setting to see the exact backtested result — including the ones that lost money.
Momentum lookback (bars)
Universe size (top by volume)
Momentum vs carry blend
Sharpe
2.01
Return
119.7%
Worst DD
−16.3%
Trades
6,401
Heads up: high turnover.
At $1,000, these settings' worst historical dip was about $163. You land in the editor with this exact setup. Free account, your own keys.
Compare all 9 settings
| Settings | Sharpe | Return | Worst DD | Trades |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Momentum 14 · Universe 30 · Momentum 0.7default | 2.01 | 119.7% | −16.3% | 6,401 |
| Momentum 10 · Universe 30 · Momentum 0.7 | 1.84 | 104.2% | −26.2% | 6,797 |
| Momentum 20 · Universe 30 · Momentum 0.7 | 1.34 | 63.9% | −12.7% | 6,151 |
| Momentum 30 · Universe 30 · Momentum 0.7 | 0.75 | 29.9% | −22.9% | 5,826 |
| Momentum 14 · Universe 30 · Momentum 0.5 | 1.08 | 45.4% | −25.1% | 7,081 |
| Momentum 14 · Universe 30 · Momentum 0.85 | 2.02 | 127.7% | −14.3% | 5,895 |
| Momentum 14 · Universe 30 · Momentum 1 | 1.98 | 123.4% | −13.2% | 5,480 |
| Momentum 14 · Universe 20 · Momentum 0.7 | 2.11 | 177.1% | −16.9% | 4,221 |
| Momentum 14 · Universe 50 · Momentum 0.7 | 2.06 | 105.4% | −10.8% | 10,283 |
The data
Monthly returns
| Month | Return |
|---|---|
| 2024-08 | -0.1% |
| 2024-09 | +9.5% |
| 2024-10 | -4.0% |
| 2024-11 | +15.2% |
| 2024-12 | +8.7% |
| 2025-01 | -12.4% |
| 2025-02 | +10.5% |
| 2025-03 | -6.2% |
| 2025-04 | +10.1% |
| 2025-05 | -2.0% |
| 2025-06 | -3.4% |
| 2025-07 | +7.8% |
| 2025-08 | +1.4% |
| 2025-09 | +6.5% |
| 2025-10 | +8.7% |
| 2025-11 | +2.0% |
| 2025-12 | +9.8% |
| 2026-01 | +5.0% |
| 2026-02 | +1.4% |
| 2026-03 | +2.7% |
| 2026-04 | +1.2% |
| 2026-05 | +12.7% |
| 2026-06 | +2.2% |
| 2026-07 | -2.2% |
Which assets it traded
| Share of return | Avg allocation | Days held | % of time held | Asset |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15.46 | 0.0086 | 688 | 99.85 | SUI |
| 13.22 | -0.0085 | 689 | 100 | TAO |
| 12.91 | 0.005 | 689 | 100 | VVV |
| 10.46 | 0.0079 | 689 | 100 | ADA |
| 9.53 | 0.0117 | 689 | 100 | XRP |
| 8.49 | 0.0152 | 689 | 100 | ZEC |
| 6.44 | 0.0065 | 687 | 99.71 | DOGE |
| 6.03 | -0.012 | 689 | 100 | LIT |
| 6 | -0.0114 | 689 | 100 | kBONK |
| 4.47 | 0.0036 | 689 | 100 | HYPE |
| 4.38 | -0.0116 | 689 | 100 | WLD |
| 3.38 | 0.0002 | 689 | 100 | ENA |
| 2.96 | 0.0006 | 689 | 100 | ONDO |
| 2.69 | 0.0035 | 686 | 99.56 | AVAX |
| 2.3 | 0.0157 | 688 | 99.85 | BNB |
| 1.96 | -0.0167 | 689 | 100 | XPL |
| 1.89 | 0.0072 | 689 | 100 | PAXG |
| 0.93 | 0.0127 | 688 | 99.85 | BTC |
| 0 | null | 689 | 100 | GRAM |
| -0.9 | -0.0105 | 689 | 100 | kPEPE |
| -1.29 | 0.0089 | 689 | 100 | ETH |
| -2.76 | 0.0166 | 689 | 100 | XLM |
| -2.98 | -0.0013 | 687 | 99.71 | LINK |
| -3.11 | -0.008 | 689 | 100 | NEAR |
| -3.38 | -0.0082 | 689 | 100 | UNI |
| -3.81 | 0.0121 | 689 | 100 | SOL |
| -4.69 | -0.0111 | 689 | 100 | DYDX |
| -5.36 | -0.0026 | 689 | 100 | TRUMP |
| -7.88 | -0.0087 | 689 | 100 | PUMP |
| -16.51 | -0.0239 | 689 | 100 | FARTCOIN |
How it did in rising vs falling markets
| Market | Days | Return | Sharpe |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rising markets | 356 | +101.0% | 3.25 |
| Falling markets | 330 | +9.3% | 0.57 |
What this is: a historical backtest on real Hyperliquid market data, net of fees, slippage, and funding. Its worst historical drawdown was 16.3% — expect drawdowns of that order or worse. Past performance does not predict future results, and this is not investment advice. Size your account so a full drawdown is survivable.