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To trade on Arcus you need a supported wallet, funds in it, and eligibility in your region. New users can create a wallet with email or social sign-in; existing wallets connect directly. Funds are deposited through an in-app flow powered by Fun and settle to your Arcus account as USDG, the protocol’s settlement stablecoin.
This page covers the concepts. Most users deposit USDG through the app, where the cross-chain routing is handled for you. For on-chain token deposits, see Deposit tokens on-chain; on testnet, see Fund a testnet account.

What you need to start

  • A supported wallet — created in-app via email or social sign-in, or connected from an existing self-custody wallet.
  • Funds to trade with (these arrive as USDG; see below).
  • Eligibility in your region.

Collateral: USDG

Arcus settles in USDG, a regulated stablecoin issued by Paxos under the Global Dollar Network, redeemable 1:1 for USD and backed by cash and US Treasuries. Whatever you deposit is converted to USDG and credited to your Arcus account. To keep an eligible token, such as WETH or a Stock Token, and use it as perp collateral instead, see Depositing tokens as collateral.

Depositing through Fun

Deposits run through the Fun flow. You first choose whether the funds land in USDG (Perps) or USDG (Spot), then pick a route: Behind a single deposit address, Fun automatically swaps and bridges your deposit to USDG and delivers it to your Arcus account in one atomic (all-or-nothing) flow, routing through established non-custodial bridges (such as Circle CCTP, Relay, Across, and LayerZero) selected by asset, route, and size. The route, fees, and estimated time are always shown before you confirm. Arcus charges no deposit fee of its own, and USDG deposits and withdrawals carry zero fees; any third-party processing or conversion cost is displayed upfront. A single USDG withdrawal can be at most $1,000,000, so split a larger amount into several withdrawals (see POST /v1/withdraw).
Fun is a third-party onboarding provider. For the full list of supported chains, payment methods, limits, and fees, see fun.xyz and the Fun help guide.

Depositing tokens as collateral

With Multi-Asset Collateral, an eligible token, such as WETH or a Stock Token, can be deposited as perp collateral instead of being converted to USDG.
  • In the app, the Margin button in the perpetuals view moves tokens into your perps account as collateral and back out again. The main Deposit flow above is different: it converts whatever you send, ETH included, to USDG.
  • On-chain, a token is deposited straight to the Arcus deposit contract. See Deposit tokens on-chain.
A credited token stays the asset you deposited and counts as collateral immediately, with no separate enable step.
Arcus deposit contract addresses can change. Read the current address before every on-chain deposit; see Deposit contract addresses can change.

Next steps

Perpetuals overview

What you can trade and how 24/7 perps work.

Authentication

Generate an API key and start trading programmatically.

Multi-Asset Collateral

How token collateral and the automatic USDG loan work.

Deposit tokens on-chain

Deposit a token as collateral, and reclaim a failed deposit.