A perpetuals exchange that settles on Solana, margins in USDC and charges makers nothing for now. Here is what it is, how it matches orders, what it costs and who can use it.
Bulk is a perpetual futures exchange built around Solana. Its documentation calls it a specialised execution layer: validators run Bulk’s own risk, order book and matching software next to a normal Solana validator, while deposits, withdrawals and custody settle on Solana. Contracts are USDC-margined perpetuals with hourly funding and no expiry.
On 3 November 2026 Bulk’s API listed 31 markets, 18 of them trading: BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, PAXG, HYPE, LIT, MON, NEAR, PAPER, PUMP, ZEC, CRCL, MSTR, MU, NVDA, SKHYNIX and SNDK, all quoted in USD. Leverage tops out at 40x on BTC. Makers pay 0 bps and takers 2.2 to 3.5 bps, depending on 14-day volume, except on the last six in that list, where takers pay a flat 1.5 bps.
Most perp exchanges are either a centralised company or a single app chain. Bulk sits between: its validators are separate operators (the docs say 20+ entities whose stake is about 5% of Solana’s total), and they agree on every batch of orders through their own consensus protocol, which the docs call BULKBFT. Solana holds the money; Bulk’s layer does the trading.
For a trader the practical points are:
Bulk is a central limit order book with price-time priority, but it does not process orders strictly first in, first out. Orders are admitted in batches, shuffled deterministically using the batch timestamp, and then executed in a fixed order inside each batch: liquidations, then cancels, then post-only maker orders, then regular orders.
Takers also face a 25 millisecond speed bump. The docs call it a temporary launch mechanism limited to the first 90 to 120 days, meant to make market makers comfortable quoting. If you read the book and the tape on a Bulk chart, expect fills to reflect that design rather than a plain first-come queue. How to read an order book covers the basics.
Bulk says it is in Growth Mode: maker fees are 0 bps on every tier, and the taker fee depends on your trading volume over the last 14 days. Fees settle per fill in USDC, and there is no separate liquidation fee.
| 14-day volume | Maker | Taker |
|---|---|---|
| Under $1M | 0 bps | 3.5 bps |
| $1M or more | 0 bps | 3.3 bps |
| $10M or more | 0 bps | 3.0 bps |
| $50M or more | 0 bps | 2.8 bps |
| $150M or more | 0 bps | 2.6 bps |
| $500M or more | 0 bps | 2.4 bps |
| $1.5B or more | 0 bps | 2.3 bps |
| $4.0B or more | 0 bps | 2.2 bps |
One basis point is 0.01%, so the entry taker fee of 3.5 bps is 0.035%. Large market makers can also earn rebates: −0.2 bps at a 0.50% share of 14-day maker volume, −1.0 bps at 2.50% and −1.5 bps at 5.00%. Apps that build on Bulk can add their own fee on top, between 1 and 15 bps, which you approve before it applies. Bulk’s live fee endpoint matched this table on 3 November 2026, and the docs say Growth Mode is a current phase, so check the fee page before relying on a rate.
The same endpoint gives eight markets a rate of their own: CRCL, MSTR, MU, NVDA, SKHYNIX, SNDK, SPACEX and TSLA charge 0 bps maker and 1.5 bps taker at every volume, and a maker with a 5.00% share of the market’s 14-day maker volume earns −0.5 bps. Bulk’s fee page does not list these rates.
Bulk’s exchange info API reported these limits on 3 November 2026:
| Max leverage | Markets |
|---|---|
| 40x | BTC-USD |
| 25x | ETH-USD |
| 20x | SOL-USD, XRP-USD, PAXG-USD |
| 10x | HYPE, LIT, MON, NEAR, PAPER, PUMP, ZEC, CRCL, MSTR, MU, NVDA, SKHYNIX, SNDK (all -USD) |
Thirteen more markets were listed but suspended that day (AAVE, BNB, DOGE, ENA, FARTCOIN, JTO, JUP, MEGA, SPACEX, SUI, TAO, TSLA and XPL). Bulk’s contract specifications say max leverage is “up to 100x” per instrument; no market offered that, so treat 40x as the real ceiling today.
Margin is cross by default, with isolated margin available per instrument or through sub-accounts. Bulk also describes portfolio margin that weighs the risk of your whole book, with up to 70% margin efficiency on hedged portfolios. Collateral is USDC only: using BTC, ETH or SOL as collateral is listed under future plans, not live. If leverage is new to you, perpetual futures explained covers funding, margin and liquidation, and the same ideas apply on Hyperliquid, where max leverage runs perp by perp.
Bulk’s Terms of Use (last updated 17 August 2026) bar people in 44 listed jurisdictions. The list includes the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Australia, and the Terms forbid hiding your location with a VPN. Bulk may also refuse customers from other countries. Read the Terms on bulk.trade before you deposit; it is your responsibility to check you are eligible.
Bulk is one of the exchanges WatchCrypto streams live next to Binance, Bybit, Coinbase, Kraken, Hyperliquid and Lighter, so you can chart a Bulk market, read its book and tape, and compare it with the same coin elsewhere in one terminal. Bulk perpetuals are also one of the two venues you can trade from the chart. Connect Bulk takes one Solana-wallet signature and authorises a trading-only key that cannot withdraw. If you trade both venues, how to trade on Hyperliquid is the sister guide.
Bulk is a perpetual futures exchange built on Solana. Its docs describe it as a specialised execution layer that runs risk, order book and matching systems natively, while deposits, withdrawals and custody settle on Solana. Collateral and settlement are in USDC.
In what Bulk calls Growth Mode, makers pay 0 bps on every tier and takers pay 3.5 bps at under $1M of 14-day volume, falling to 2.2 bps at $4.0B or more. Maker rebates of 0.2 to 1.5 bps go to large maker-volume shares. Eight markets, including NVDA-USD and MSTR-USD, have a rate of their own: a flat 1.5 bps for takers. Bulk's docs and fee endpoint, read 3 November 2026.
40x, on BTC-USD, according to Bulk's exchange info API on 3 November 2026. ETH-USD allows 25x, SOL-USD, XRP-USD and PAXG-USD 20x, and every other market 10x. Bulk's docs say up to 100x per instrument, but no listed market offered that on that date.
Bulk's documentation says it is: assets are held in a Solana program, each user's funds sit in a per-user program-derived account that only the user can access, and withdrawals need a threshold signature from the validator set. Read the docs before depositing.
Yes. WatchCrypto shows live Bulk charts and data, and you can place Bulk perpetual orders from the chart after connecting a Solana wallet. The connection authorises a trading-only key that cannot withdraw.
Bulk's Terms of Use, last updated 17 August 2026, list 44 prohibited jurisdictions, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, France and Germany. Check the current list on bulk.trade before you deposit.
WatchCrypto is not affiliated with Bulk. Perpetual futures carry a high risk of loss; this guide is not financial advice.