# Get started

Open [signal.family](https://signal.family). You can browse everything without signing in. To trade or launch you need a wallet with some **HYPE**, the coin that pays for transactions on HyperEVM (chain ID **999**).

## Sign in

Press **Sign in**. There are two ways in:

- **Email, Google or X.** Signal makes a wallet for you when you sign in, through Privy. It is yours alone: Signal does not hold its key.
- **A wallet you already have** (MetaMask, Rabby, Phantom and others): "Continue with a wallet", or "Use a wallet instead".

Signal never asks for a private key or a recovery phrase, and has no import box. If you already have a wallet, sign in with it, or send its coins to your Signal address.

## Put money in

Open the account menu and press **Add money**. Pick where the money comes from and the sheet shows the one address to send to:

- **HyperEVM:** send HYPE or USDC. Ready to trade the moment it lands.
- **Hyperliquid:** the same address. "Transfer to EVM" on Hyperliquid moves HYPE straight to it.
- **Another network** (Base, Arbitrum, Ethereum, BNB Chain, Robinhood Chain, Solana): the money stays yours on that network and can pay for a coin on Signal in one tap.

From an exchange, withdraw HYPE on HyperEVM if the exchange offers it. If it does not, withdraw USDC on Arbitrum or Base, with a little ETH there for gas. More in [your wallet](wallet.md).

## Make a first trade

1. Find a token. Search opens with `/`. Search by the full contract address when it matters: names, tickers and pictures can be copied by anyone.
2. Read its page: what it trades against, its fee, its rules, its safety check.
3. Enter an amount. The ticket shows what you get and what the trade costs.
4. Press **Buy**. A wallet you brought asks you to confirm. A Signal wallet with instant trading on sends at once.
5. Wait for the confirmation. A transaction that was sent is not yet a transaction that landed.

## Three things to know early

**HYPE and WHYPE are different.** HYPE is the native coin. WHYPE is its ERC-20 wrapper at `0x5555555555555555555555555555555555555555`. A token "paired with HYPE" trades against WHYPE inside its pool; when you pay HYPE, the route wraps and unwraps it for you.

**Keep some HYPE for gas.** The ticket's MAX leaves 0.01 HYPE in the wallet for that reason. The dollar value of your holdings is not HYPE you can spend.

**Back up a Signal wallet.** Account menu, **Back up your wallet**. Privy's own window shows the key; Signal never sees it. Write it on paper. Anyone who has it can take everything in the wallet, and nobody from Signal will ever ask for it.

A public wallet address and a transaction hash are all anyone needs to look into a trade or a reward. Never share a key or a recovery phrase with support, or with anyone.