Self-custodial by construction
A Thaler vault is a Squads smart account. The user is a co-signer on that account from the moment it is created. The protocol cannot move funds out of a vault without the policy explicitly allowing it, and cannot bypass the policy at all. This differs from a managed product, where a custodian holds the keys and the user holds a claim against the custodian. In Thaler the user holds the keys; the protocol holds the rules.What the policy controls
The Squads policy extension binds the vault’s behaviour. It enumerates every parameter the smart account will enforce.
Any instruction that targets an asset, venue, or operation outside this enumeration is rejected at the smart-account level.
Immutability
The policy extension is signed once and cannot be amended. The value of a policy comes from its predictability. A policy that can be modified after signing offers no stronger guarantee than an off-chain agreement. Three consequences follow from immutability:- The user can verify the policy once and rely on it for the vault’s lifetime.
- Auditors can compare the deployed program to the signed policy without tracking ongoing amendments.
- The protocol cannot change the rules under stress, during a drawdown, or after a market move.
Recovery and continuity
The Squads smart account is independent of any single party. The user retains a co-signer key. If the protocol’s worker or agent wallet becomes unreachable, the user can still execute the close procedure that the policy defines. The deposit and any accrued yield are held by the smart account, not by the protocol. There is no path inside the policy that lets the worker route the payout elsewhere.Verifying a vault on chain
1
Locate the vault address
The Squads smart account address appears under the vault number on the My Vaults screen.
2
Open a block explorer
Paste the smart account address into Solscan or
Solana Explorer.
3
Read the policy extension
The extension is attached to the Squads multisig. It lists the allowed assets, the allowed
venues, the leverage cap, the claim cadence, and the closure procedure in plain on-chain
data.
4
Cross-check against the strategy summary
The strategy summary shown in the Thaler app must match the on-chain rules exactly. Any
discrepancy is a signal not to deposit.
Comparison with managed products
Next read
Strategies
The three pillars the policy authorises and how they earn together.
Risk disclosure
The residual risks that no policy can fully eliminate.