How to Trade on Lavarage

How to margin trade any token on Solana with Lavarage

Lavarage lets you take leveraged positions on real Solana tokens — not perpetual contracts, not synthetics. You hold the actual token in a non-custodial position. This guide walks you through opening your first trade from scratch, with a concrete example so you know exactly what to expect before you commit capital.

If you want background before diving into steps, read What is Lavarage and What is spot margin trading first. Otherwise, start here.

Before you start — two ways in

You do not need a funded Solana wallet to get started. Lavarage offers two entry paths.

Path 1 — Connect a Solana wallet. If you already use Phantom, Solflare, or Backpack, click "Connect Wallet" on lavarage.xyz and approve the connection. No signup required.

Path 2 — Email login + card funding. If you are new to DeFi (decentralized finance) and don't have a Solana wallet yet, choose "Log in with Email." Lavarage uses Privy to create a self-custodial wallet linked to your email. Once logged in, tap "Fund" and use MoonPay to add SOL or USDC with a debit or credit card. Your keys, your wallet — Lavarage never holds your funds. This path removes the biggest barrier for anyone coming from a centralized exchange. More on this in our email login guide.

Step 1 — Pick a market

Once you are logged in, you will see a list of tokens with active margin markets. Each entry represents a token where at least one lender has an open offer.

A few things to look for when scanning the list:

Available liquidity. This is how much you can borrow. No liquidity, no trade.
Max leverage. Lenders — not Lavarage — set the leverage terms for each token. The number you see reflects what lenders are currently offering. It will vary by token and change as lenders update their offers.
Interest rate. Each offer carries a lender-set annual percentage rate (APR). This accrues on your borrowed amount for as long as the position is open.

Search for the token you want or browse the list. Click the token to open its market page.

Step 2 — Set your collateral and leverage

On the market page, you will see a trade panel. Here you decide:

1. Collateral amount — how much of your own capital you are putting in (denominated in SOL or USDC, depending on the market).

2. Leverage — a slider or input that shows the range currently available from lenders. You can only select leverage within what lenders are offering. There is no platform dial that overrides this; the market sets the ceiling.

A higher leverage multiplier means you are borrowing more relative to your collateral. Your position size grows, and so does your exposure to price movements in both directions. Isolated positions mean each trade is its own on-chain account — one position going wrong does not affect others.

Step 3 — Open a long (worked example)

Let us walk through a concrete long trade so the fee structure is clear before you confirm anything.

Scenario: You want to go long on a Solana token. You put in 1 SOL as collateral and select 3× leverage.

Your collateral: 1 SOL
Lavarage borrows on your behalf: 2 SOL from a lender vault
Total position size: 3 SOL worth of the target token (swapped via Jupiter)
Open fee (1%): 0.03 SOL (1% of the 3 SOL position)
Interest: accrues on the 2 SOL borrowed, at the lender's APR, for every day the position is open

You now hold the real token on-chain. If the token price rises 20%, your 3 SOL position gains 0.6 SOL — a 60% return on your 1 SOL collateral. If it falls, you lose on the amplified position, not just your collateral amount. Understand the downside before you size up.

To open the trade, review the summary panel, confirm the details, and approve the transaction in your wallet.

Managing an open position

Once a position is open, the position panel gives you several controls.

Partial close. You can close part of the position to lock in gains or reduce exposure without exiting fully.

Add collateral. If the price moves against you and you want to reduce liquidation risk, you can add more collateral to improve your position's health.

Take profit / stop loss (TP/SL). Automated TP/SL orders are available if you logged in with email (Privy wallet). They are not currently available for externally connected wallets (Phantom, Solflare, Backpack). If you are using an external wallet and want price-triggered exits, you will need to monitor and close manually.

Close in full. When you close, a 1% close fee applies to the total position size at that moment. The protocol repays the lender, returns your collateral minus fees and interest, and settles the net to your wallet.

Going short

Shorting works in the opposite direction. You post USDC as collateral, borrow the volatile token from a lender vault that holds it, swap to USDC via Jupiter, and profit if the price falls.

Short positions are supply-dependent. A lender must hold an active vault for that specific token. Not every token on the market list will have a short available. Check the market page for a "Short" tab — if no lender supply exists, the option will not appear.

Closing your position and what you pay

Every trade on Lavarage carries two protocol fees:

1% to open — charged on the full position size when the trade is created
1% to close — charged on the full position size when the trade is closed

In addition, interest accrues on the borrowed amount for the duration the position is open. The rate is lender-set APR — it varies by token and lender offer. You can see the applicable rate before you confirm.

There are no hidden fees beyond these three. No platform subscription, no funding rate to monitor, and no ADL (auto-deleveraging) risk — because Lavarage is a lending and borrowing protocol, not a counterparty-matched exchange.

If you are coming from a centralized exchange and want a fuller comparison of what changes in DeFi, read our guide for traders coming from a CEX.

FAQ

What wallets work with Lavarage?

Phantom, Solflare, and Backpack all connect directly. Alternatively, you can log in with your email address — Lavarage uses Privy to create a self-custodial wallet you control, with no browser extension required.

What leverage can I get?

It depends on what lenders are currently offering for that token. Lenders set their own terms, including the maximum leverage. Across the protocol, leverage can reach up to 20× on select markets — but this is a function of lender supply, not a platform-wide guarantee.

How does liquidation work?

If a position's value falls to the liquidation threshold (set by lender terms), the position is closed automatically to repay the lender. Each position is isolated, so one liquidation does not affect your other open trades or your wallet balance beyond that position.

Is Lavarage safe to use?

Lavarage has been live on Solana mainnet since February 2024 — roughly 25 months and over $200M in volume from 10K+ traders. V2 is built on audited V1 code (Code4rena + Sec3). Smart contracts are non-custodial: your collateral is held in on-chain program accounts, not by Lavarage.

Can I trade on mobile?

Yes. Lavarage V2 is mobile-native. The full trading terminal works in a mobile browser.

Why can I not find the token I want?

The token needs an active lender offer on the platform. The protocol supports any SPL token with Jupiter liquidity and a Birdeye price feed — but a lender must have created an offer for that specific token. If it is not listed, no offer exists yet.

Ready to open your first position? Go to lavarage.xyz and connect your wallet or sign in with email.