Master Drift Protocol Trading: Step by Step Guide.

In my experience, starting small builds the muscle memory. You avoid that panic when your first trade goes south. Sound familiar? Let's fix that now.

Getting Your Wallet In and Account Set Up

Head to app.drift.trade. Boom, you're there. Connect Phantom or whatever Solana wallet you got-it's like two clicks. But don't stop. You gotta create a Drift account. That's not your wallet; it's your trading sub account on Drift.

Click "Deposit" or the account tab-whatever shows first.
Pick USDC, deposit minimum $50. I usually do $100 to play safe.
Confirm in wallet. Takes seconds, costs peanuts in SOL fees.
Now refresh. You see your balance? Good. You're live.

The thing is, without this, you can't trade perps or spot with leverage. Happened to a buddy once-he thought wallet connect was enough. Nope. Stuck bridging funds forever.

Pro Tip on Wallets

If you're on Ledger, enable it in settings first. Or switch networks to Solana mainnet. Easy fix if tx fails.

Trading Perpetuals: Your Bread and Butter

Perps are where Drift shines. Up to 10x leverage standard, 20x if you're nuts in high leverage mode (beta, limited spots, higher fees). Fees? Makers get -0.01% rebates sometimes, takers pay 0.05-0.10%. Funding hourly, keeps prices real.

Click Trade > Perpetuals. Pick a market-SOL PERP, BTC PERP, ETH PERP hot right now.

Long or Short? Long if you bet up, short if down. Obvious.
Order type: Market for instant, Limit for price control.

Now size it. Enter USDC collateral, say $10. Slider shows leverage-drag to 2x for starters. Max slippage? Set 0.5% so you don't get rekt on big moves. Hit open, review modal (fees, liq price shown), sign tx.

What's next? Your position's open. Check health meter-green good, red danger. Unsettled P/L updates live.

Tweaking Settings Before You Blow Up

Bottom of screen, toggle Pro mode for orderbook view. Then settings gear: Turn on Margin Trading if disabled. Set max leverage-None for spot only, 5x main account, 10x for degen plays. Save it.

Priority fees? Default fine, but crank to high (~0.001 SOL extra) during pumps. Faster tx, no sandwich attacks. I usually custom 1000 lamports. Transactions fly.

Why does this matter? Wrong settings = no leverage on spot, or accidental 15x nuking your stack.

High Leverage Mode?

Beta for SOL/BTC/ETH. Opt in UI, but spots limited-get booted if inactive. Fees up, risks up. Skip unless you're printing.

Opening Your First Trade Step by Step

Perpetuals tab. SOL PERP example.
Long. Market order.
Enter 0.5 SOL size (that's ~$100 at current prices, whatever).
2x leverage slider. Collateral auto calcs ~$50 USDC.
Slippage 0.3%. Add trigger orders: TP at +5%, SL at -3%.
Review: Fee ~0.05%, est liq price shown. Sign.

Done. Position tab shows it. P/L ticking. Super short first sentence. Now watch.

Potential issue: Slow fill? Network congested. Bump priority fee. Or use limit close to market.

Closing and Taking Profits

Easy. Position tab, click close. Market for fast, limit for better price. 100% or partial. Auto confirm if you trust it. Profits land in USDC collateral.

Collect? Withdraw tab, send to wallet. Gas again tiny. I've closed 10x trades in seconds this way. Profits real, no CEX BS.

But here's a snag: Funding rates. If longs dominate, you pay shorts hourly. Check rates tab. Adjust or hedge.

Spot Trading with a Twist

Not just swaps. Spot with margin-leverage up to 10x if enabled. Trade BTC/USDC spot, borrow against it.

Trade > Spot. Same form. Long BTC, size 0.01, 3x lev. Fills against AMM or orderbook. Liquidity deep, JIT auctions handle whales.

I usually mix spot for yield + perps for directionals. Earn while holding.

Risk Management That Actually Works

Leverage kills. Start 1-2x. Position size? Never more than 5% account per trade. Cross margin all positions-efficient, but one liq cascades.

Tools: Est liq price always visible. Set SL/TP on open. Health meter warns early.

Account Health	Color	What to Do
80-100%	Green	Chill, add more if wanted
50-79%	Yellow	Reduce size or close
Below 50%	Red	Emergency close now

Table helps scan quick. In my experience, yellow? Half out. Saved my ass twice.

Earn While You Trade: Points and Yield

Drift points for airdrop? Trade perps/spot, provide liquidity, stake DRIFT. 1 FUEL per $1 volume (maker/taker). Stake DRIFT at drift staking: 10 FUEL per DRIFT/28 days. Unstake 13 days cooldown.

Yield: Auto on deposits, up to 10% APY leveraged staking. Backstop AMM LP-counterparty to traders, earn fees.

Perps/spot volume: Taker instant fill, maker limit off market.
Buy DRIFT on site, stake.
Bonus: Insurance fund, prize pools.

Honestly, points farming lowkey prints if airdrop hits. But trade first, farm second.

Common Screw Ups and Quick Fixes

Tx failing? Wrong network or low SOL. Bridge from CEX via their guide-fast.

Liquidated? Overleveraged. Check oracle price vs liq-Pyth feeds solid.

Slow during volatility? Pro mode + high fees. Or multiple accounts: Main 5x, degen 10x.

Switch accounts easy-top bar. I run three: safe, medium, wild.

Advanced Moves Once You're Rolling

Borrow/lend: Use collateral, borrow USDC cheap, lever perps harder.

Orderbook deep: Limit maker below/above for rebates. JIT liquidity no slippage whales.

API for bots? Yeah, programmable strategies. But manual first.

Cross margin all. One pool collateral. Efficient af.

Borrow Example

Deposit extra USDC/SOL.
Borrow tab, borrow against it.
Use borrowed for more perps. Rates low.

Yield stacks. But watch health.

Liquidity Provision: Passive Gains

Backstop AMM: LP into vAMM. Constant product x*y=k, bid ask auto adjusts. Earn from trades.

Risks capped, insurance fund backs. I dip 10% portfolio here. Steady 5-15% APY ish, depending vol.

How? Earn tab > BAL. Deposit, done. Withdraw anytime, mostly.

Staking DRIFT Deep Dive

Buy DRIFT USDC pair on Drift itself. Stake page: Amount in, lock 28 days for FUEL. Revenue share too-fees to stakers.

Unstake request, wait 13 days. Plan ahead. Points boost airdrop odds.

Pretty much free money if DRIFT pumps.

Fees Breakdown Quick

Type	Fee	Notes
Maker	0.02% to -0.01%	Rebates high vol
Taker	0.05-0.10%	Position size based
Settle	0.01%	Position value
Gas	~0.000005 SOL	Per tx

Cheaper than most. Funding? Hourly, spot convergence.

Your First Week Plan

Day 1: Setup, $100 deposit, 1x market long tiny.

Day 2: Add SL/TP, close profit.

Day 3: Spot leverage 2x.

Day 4: Stake DRIFT, farm points.

Day 5+: Mix perps, LP small.

Scale slow. Journal trades. You'll master it.

One more: Multiple positions open fine. Hedge long/short same market. Advanced, but power move.