Architecture & Roles

Architecture

A vault is a smart contract that accepts deposits of a reference asset and allocates them into DeFi strategies. Depositors receive vault shares that represent their ownership. As the vault’s value changes, so does each user’s share.

Vaults are denominated in a reference asset, most commonly ETH-based assets such as rETH. In the case of the Rocket Pool rETH vault, other supported assets which can be deposited (ETH, WETH, stETH in this case) are automatically swapped into the vault’s reference asset via routing to a decentralized exchange.

Roles

Vaults consist of multiple interacting roles and systems that ensure assets are deployed effectively while minimizing operational and security risks. Below is a walkthrough using the rETH Vault as an example.

User / Depositor

Depositors supply the reference asset to the vault and receive receipt tokens representing their proportional share.

The flow for a typical depositor is:

  1. A user deposits rETH into the vault.

  2. The vault mints and returns a receipt token (ERC-20) representing ownership.

  3. While holding the receipt token, depositors can:

    1. View how vault assets are allocated.

    2. Monitor the changing value of their share.

  4. Withdrawals:

    1. A user can request a withdrawal from the wallet that is holding their receipt token. Withdrawals will show as ‘pending’ once the withdrawal has been requested.

    2. Withdrawals will be received in the reference asset of the vault (regardless of what asset was deposited). e.g. in the case of the Rocket Pool rETH vault, if a user deposits stETH, that asset is converted into rETH and deployed into the vault. If that user withdraws they will receive rETH.

    3. Withdrawals are processed every 24 hours. This is a feature of the ERC-7540 Asynchronous Tokenized Vault Standard.

    4. After Withdrawal processing, a user can Claim the resulting reference asset.

Details panel showing service fee (1%), reward fee (10%), withdrawal period (~24h), and partner protocols for the rETH vault.

Strategy Manager (aka Curator, aka Strategist)

The Strategy Manager is responsible for proposing and executing strategies that deploy vault assets. They are also responsible for proposing NAV updates.

The Strategy Manager cannot unilaterally conduct any transaction that has not already been whitelisted via a multi-party approval process.

The Strategy process is as follows:

  1. Strategy Manager proposes a new strategy via Vault Management Platform

  2. Strategy is reviewed and added to the whitelist (or rejected) by the Distributor via MPC (the Partner Protocol can also be part of this process, if desired).

  3. Once approved, the Strategy Manager deploys assets, with strict guardrails:

    1. Only whitelisted strategies are accessible.

    2. Assets can move only to and from pre-approved protocols.

    3. All transactions must satisfy signing policy rules.

    4. Any transactions that don’t conform to these rulesets are autorejected by the MPC signing solution.

The NAV update process is as follows:

  1. Each day, the Strategy Manager proposes a new vault token price per share based on strategy APR.

  2. The Distributor reviews this proposed update, checking against on-chain data, and co-signs approval using the MPC signing solution.

What a Strategy Manager can do:

  • Deploy assets from the Vault into whitelisted Strategies unilaterally.

  • Rebalance allocations between approved Strategies to maintain risk/reward targets.

  • Operate within vault parameters such as position size limits, protocol whitelists, and risk thresholds.

  • Submit transactions via the institutional-grade MPC wallet for Distributor approval.

What a Strategy Manager cannot do:

  • Withdraw or transfer assets to non-approved addresses (all flows must remain within the Vault or whitelisted Strategies).

  • Change the Strategy (e.g., cannot switch from a conservative strategy to a high-risk one without co-signing from the Distributor).

  • Override withdrawal rights of Depositors (users can always redeem according to Vault terms).

  • Alter NAV reporting or bypass oracle updates. NAV submissions are reviewed and confirmed independently.

Tulipa Capital is the Strategy Manager for the rETH Rocket Pool vault.

Distributor

The Distributor (RockSolid) works with the Partner Protocol to ensure the vault is configured to match its stated objectives, including risk appetite, asset type, and reward structure. The Distributor cannot unilaterally conduct any transaction.

The Distributor performs the following roles:

  • Reviews new strategy requests (proposed by the Strategy Manager) against the vault’s mandate and objectives.

  • Ensures allocations remain consistent with the vault’s design.

  • Acts as cosigner on admin functions and whitelist proposals.

  • Acts as cosigner on daily NAV updates.

Vault Management Platform

The Vault Management Platform provides the underlying infrastructure that powers RockSolid Vaults. It is a set of battle tested, audited smart contracts that standardize how deposits, withdrawals, accounting, NAV updates, and contract upgrades are handled, ensuring that Vault Strategies can be deployed safely, transparently, and at scale.

Lagoon is the Vault Management Platform in the case of the rETH vault.

MPC Signing Solution

The Signing Solution enforces the policies and controls of the vault. For example it controls the creation and approval of whitelisted strategies, ensuring that vault assets can only be deployed into pre-approved protocols. Actions that are not pre-approved are automatically rejected by the signing solution.

All operational asset deployment transactions require multi-party computation signing workflows, split between the Distributor and the Strategy Manager. The Partner Protocol can also be involved in these approval flows if desired.

Fordefi is the Signing Solution in the case of the rETH vault.

Partner Protocol

A Partner Protocol is an external project or asset issuer that RockSolid integrates with. Partner Protocols may be the asset issuer of the Vault Asset(s) or an entity who otherwise controls the Vault Assets (for example, a wallet holding balances of various ERC20 tokens). Partner Protocols are also central in establishing the Strategy of their respective Vaults.

Rocket Pool is the Partner Protocol in the case of the rETH Vault.

Security Council

The Security Council is only called upon in exceptional circumstances (e.g. where one of either the Distributor or Strategy Manager becomes unreachable or acts maliciously, which thus prevents the MPC signing quorum from being reached). In such a circumstance, a majority of the Security Council are able to join with the remaining party to enable an admin policy change in the MPC solution that replaces the other party, to allow an orderly transition to a new Distributor, Strategy Manager, or wind-down of a vault.

The Security Council currently consists of crypto-native founders/experts from well-known teams, with many years of DeFi experience between them. For security reasons their identities are kept private.

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