Tutorial: your first HAM position

This tutorial walks you from nothing to holding HAM and seeing a rebase change your balance. It is a learning exercise — we explain just enough to keep moving; the explanation pages cover the why in depth. By the end you will have acquired HAM, watched the scaling factor, and (if you choose) staked into the genesis farm.

You will need: a wallet (MetaMask/Rabby/OKX) with HyperEVM added (chain 999, RPC https://rpc.hyperliquid.xyz/evm), and a small amount of HYPE for gas and to buy with.

1. Add HyperEVM and connect

Add the HyperEVM network to your wallet using the details above, then open the HAM app and click Connect. You should see the network indicator show HYPEREVM and your address appear.

2. Acquire some HAM

On the dashboard, use Ape In (or your DEX of choice on the HAM/WHYPE pool). Swap a small amount — say 5 HYPE — into HAM. When the swap confirms, your Your Bag panel shows a HAM balance.

You now hold HAM. Notice it's a normal token in your wallet — it just behaves differently at rebase time, which you'll see next.

3. Read your two balances

Look at two numbers:

• Your Bag (the big number) — this is balanceOf, what changes on a rebase.
• Underlying — this is balanceOfUnderlying, your rebase-invariant share.

Write both down. The first will move at the next rebase; the second won't (you didn't transfer anything). This distinction is the whole mental model — see Elastic supply.

4. Watch a rebase

The dashboard shows Next Rebase In (rebases happen about twice a day). When the countdown reaches zero and a keeper triggers the rebase:

• The HAMS Scaling Factor changes.
• Your Bag changes by the same proportion — up if HAM was above $1, down if below.
• Your Underlying is unchanged.

That's a rebase: the protocol nudged HAM's price back toward $1.00 by resizing every balance, including yours, while your share stayed put.

5. (Optional) Put your HAM to work

To earn HAM rewards, provide HAM/WHYPE liquidity and stake the LP token in the genesis farm. That's a task in its own right — follow Provide and stake LP.

What you learned

You acquired HAM, saw that your displayed balance is the scaling factor applied to your underlying share, and watched a rebase move the former but not the latter. Next, read The peg to understand what the rebase was actually responding to.