Components
A Thaler vault is composed of four parts. Each part has one responsibility, and the boundaries between them are enforced on chain.
The smart account is the address of record. Funds enter and leave through it, and every instruction it executes is checked against the policy before any signature is honoured.
Coordination loop
Every action follows the same five steps. If any step fails the policy check, the network rejects the transaction. There is no off-chain override.Why separate four concerns
The structure keeps each layer independently reviewable.
A reviewer can inspect any one layer without needing the others. The smart account refuses to sign anything outside the policy regardless of who proposes it.
What the user signs at creation
The creation transaction bundles four actions into a single signature.
After creation, the user signs only for
claim and close. Every other action happens inside the policy bounds.
Continuity
Squads smart accounts can be recovered by the user even if the protocol disappears. The deposit and any accrued yield are held by the smart account, not by the protocol. As long as the user holds their share of the multisig, they can interact with the account directly. The worker is a convenience layer. It can be replaced or removed without losing access to the assets the smart account holds. If the worker stops responding, the user can still sign a manual close.Next read
Custody and policy
What the policy controls and how to verify it on chain.
Strategies
The three pillars the policy authorises and how they earn together.