BULK Exchange Sub-Accounts: How They Work and When to Use Them

BULK Exchange allows up to 64 sub-accounts per master wallet. Each sub-account has fully independent margin, positions, and PnL. Volume from all sub-accounts aggregates under the master wallet for fee tier calculation. Transfers are gasless and instant.

How Sub-Accounts Work

Technical Structure

Sub-accounts are off-curve accounts with deterministically derived public keys. They have no private key — they are owned entirely by the master wallet.

This means:

• Only the master wallet can authorize transfers in or out
• Sub-accounts cannot act independently — all actions require the master wallet’s authorization
• Sub-account addresses are predictable and permanent

Creating Sub-Accounts

In the BULK Exchange interface: Account Settings → Create Sub-Account → Name (1–32 characters, alphanumeric + hyphens + underscores).

Optional: fund the sub-account at creation by specifying a USDC amount. This is an atomic transfer — the creation and funding happen in one step.

Transfers

• Master → Sub-account: Gasless, instant
• Sub-account → Master: Gasless, instant
• Sub-account → Sub-account: Via master account (two steps)

No on-chain transaction fees for internal transfers. This makes reallocating capital between strategies frictionless.

Why 64 Sub-Accounts Matters

Strategy Isolation

Sub-account 1 runs a trend-following strategy. Sub-account 2 runs a mean reversion strategy. Sub-account 3 holds a long-term BTC position.

A losing month on sub-account 2 doesn’t drain the margin on sub-accounts 1 and 3. A liquidation event on sub-account 3 doesn’t affect sub-account 1. Each strategy runs in a fully isolated risk environment.

Volume Aggregation for Fee Tiers

All sub-accounts roll up to the master wallet for fee tier calculation. Volume is aggregated across the full account suite.

Impact: A trader running 10 sub-accounts each trading $1M/day qualifies at $10M/day for fee tier purposes. This is critical for institutional accounts running multiple strategies at scale.

The Testnet Competition Application

In the BULK Exchange paper trading competition, each sub-account was an independent leaderboard entry. The rule: only the single highest-ranked account per master wallet counted.

Running 10 sub-accounts with 10 different strategies gave 10 independent shots at placing. The losing strategies cost nothing. This is the direct application of sub-accounts as optionality.

Use Cases

Retail Trader

• Sub-account 1: Main account, moderate leverage, regular positions
• Sub-account 2: High-leverage experimental positions (isolated risk)
• Sub-account 3: Reserved capital, no active positions

If sub-account 2’s experimental trades go wrong, sub-account 1 and 3 are completely unaffected.

Active Trader

• Sub-accounts 1–5: Different markets (BTC, ETH, SOL, DOGE, GOLD)
• Sub-account 6: Market-neutral pairs strategies
• Sub-account 7: Arbitrage
• Volume aggregates for tier advancement

Market Maker (Alpha Program)

The Alpha Program quality score includes volume as one metric. Running multiple sub-accounts with different quoting strategies while aggregating volume for fee tiers creates a capital-efficient market making operation.

Interaction With Fee Tiers

Fee tiers on BULK Exchange use a 14-day rolling volume window. All sub-accounts under a master wallet count toward this window.

Sub-account volume aggregation means a sophisticated multi-strategy trader can reach higher tiers faster than their individual account volumes would suggest.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many sub-accounts can I have on BULK Exchange? Up to 64 sub-accounts per master wallet.

Do sub-accounts share margin? No. Each sub-account has fully independent margin and positions. A liquidation in one sub-account does not affect others.

Do sub-accounts share fee tiers? Yes. Volume across all sub-accounts aggregates under the master wallet for fee tier calculation. Higher combined volume qualifies for lower fee tiers across all accounts.

Can I transfer between sub-accounts for free? Yes. Transfers between master and sub-accounts are gasless and instant. Sub-account to sub-account transfers route through the master account but are still free.

Back to cluster hub: Complete BULK Exchange Trading Guide

Also in this cluster:

• Portfolio Margin Explained — each sub-account has independent portfolio margin
• Fee Structure & Genesis Phase — sub-account volumes aggregate for tier calculation
• Market Making on BULK — institutional multi-strategy use cases

Related: Airdrop Checklist — testnet sub-account strategy for leaderboard · Glossary: Sub-Accounts

Set up sub-accounts → early.bulk.trade

Last updated: June 6, 2026