Exact In vs Exact Out

HyperQuote supports two quoting modes that determine which side of the trade is fixed and which side is variable. Choosing the right mode depends on whether you care more about how much you spend or how much you receive.

Two Quoting Modes

Exact In (mode = 0)

You specify the exact amount you are selling (amountIn). Makers compete by offering the highest amountOut — whoever gives you the most output tokens wins.

Example: “I want to sell exactly 10,000 USDC. How much HYPE will I get?”

The optional minOut constraint protects you from accepting a quote that pays less than your minimum acceptable output. This is enforced on-chain — the fill transaction reverts if the maker’s amountOut is below minOut.

Exact Out (mode = 1)

You specify the exact amount you want to receive (amountOut). Makers compete by quoting the lowest amountIn — whoever asks you to pay the least wins.

Example: “I want to receive exactly 500 HYPE. How much USDC do I need to pay?”

The optional maxIn constraint protects you from paying more than your ceiling. This is also enforced on-chain.

When to Use Each Mode

How Makers Price Each Mode

Exact In pricing

The maker knows the taker’s fixed input amount and needs to determine how much output to offer. The pricing calculation:

1. Start with the mid-price of the pair (e.g. from the HyperCore orderbook or an internal model).
2. Apply a spread to account for inventory risk, market volatility, and the specific size.
3. Deduct the protocol fee impact (2.5 bps on the input side).
4. Arrive at amountOut — the net output offered to the taker.

Larger trades typically receive wider spreads because the maker takes on more inventory risk.

Exact Out pricing

The maker knows the taker’s desired output and works backwards to compute the input cost:

1. Start with the same mid-price.
2. Apply a spread (similar logic as above).
3. Add the protocol fee impact.
4. Arrive at amountIn — the total cost the taker will pay.

Exact Out pricing tends to produce slightly wider spreads because the maker must ensure they can source the exact output quantity, which limits their hedging flexibility.

Impact on Venue Benchmarks

The Venue Comparison Engine adapts its benchmark calculations based on the mode:

• Exact In: compares amountOut across venues — higher is better.
• Exact Out: compares amountIn across venues — lower is better.

The mid-price benchmark also adjusts:

Exact In impact  = (referenceOut - actualOut) / referenceOut * 100
Exact Out impact = (actualIn - referenceIn) / referenceIn * 100

In both cases, a lower impact percentage means better execution.

On-Chain Enforcement

The settlement contract uses the kind field (0 = Exact In, 1 = Exact Out) to determine which constraints to validate at fill time:

• Exact In: the contract verifies quote.amountOut >= taker.minOut (if set).
• Exact Out: the contract verifies quote.amountIn <= taker.maxIn (if set).

If the constraint is violated, the transaction reverts. This ensures the taker always gets at least what they specified, regardless of any off-chain manipulation.

Relay Protocol

The quoting mode is transmitted to makers in the relay message as the mode field:

{
  "v": 1,
  "requestId": "...",
  "mode": "EXACT_IN",
  "tokenIn": "0x...",
  "tokenOut": "0x...",
  "amountIn": "10000000000",
  "amountOut": null,
  "minOut": "4950000000000000000000",
  "maxIn": null,
  "expiry": 1710000060,
  "requestTtlSec": 60
}

For Exact In, amountIn is set and amountOut is null. For Exact Out, amountOut is set and amountIn is null. Makers read the mode field to determine which pricing path to use.