FAQ & Glossary
FAQ
General
What is Dawn Vault?
A yield-generating vault on Solana built by Dawn Labs, an active Solana validator operator. It combines Kamino Multiply, lending aggregation, and delta-neutral strategies for optimized risk-adjusted returns.
What makes Dawn Vault different?
(1) Validator-native alpha — dawnSOL adds staking rewards on top of strategy returns; (2) Full transparency — every source of yield is decomposed and disclosed; (3) Yield Smoothing Reserve — validator commission revenue stabilizes returns.
Is Dawn Vault custodial?
The intended product architecture is non-custodial, with assets held by the on-chain vault program rather than by an individual operator.
This repository, however, contains the off-chain operator stack only. It does not include the on-chain custody program or deployed addresses, so that guarantee must be verified from separate on-chain documentation.
Who operates Dawn Vault?
Dawn Labs, a Solana operations partner based in APAC. We run validator infrastructure and operate the vault with our own capital alongside depositors.
Yield
Where does the yield come from?
Kamino Multiply — Leveraged stablecoin loops (ONyc/USDC ~16%, USDG/PYUSD ~9.5%)
Lending interest — USDC lent to Kamino and Jupiter
Funding rate payments — SOL-PERP perpetual futures (when active)
Staking rewards — dawnSOL ~7% APY (when DN is active)
See Transparency for full details.
What APY can I expect?
9-16% from the Base Layer (Kamino Multiply + Lending). During high SOL funding rate periods, up to 20% when the Alpha Layer is active.
Is the APY guaranteed?
No. APY depends on market conditions and is variable. The Yield Smoothing Reserve helps stabilize but does not guarantee any minimum.
How is yield distributed?
Auto-compounded into the vault. No claiming or harvesting. LP token share price increases as the vault earns yield.
Deposits & Withdrawals
What assets can I deposit?
USDC (SPL token on Solana).
Is there a lock-up period?
No. Withdraw at any time.
What are the fees?
Performance: 20% (HWM-based), Management: 1%/year, Deposit: 0%, Withdrawal: 0.1%. See Fees & How to Use.
Risk
Can I lose money?
Yes. Strategies minimize risk, but loss is possible due to smart contract bugs, market events, or other factors. See Risk & Security.
How is risk managed?
Multi-layered system: Multiply Risk Scorer (4 dimensions: depeg risk, liquidation proximity, exit liquidity, reserve pressure), Lending Risk Scorer (5 dimensions), Protocol Circuit Breaker, staged deleverage protection, DN risk manager, guardrails and kill switch.
Is the smart contract audited?
The open-source portion in github.com/DawnLabsTech/vault is the off-chain operator stack. Kamino has public audits. Audit claims for the separate on-chain vault / custody layer should be checked against the actual deployed program and its audit reports. A dedicated third-party audit for the full product remains planned.
Is the code open source?
Yes for the off-chain operator stack: bot, backtest engine, dashboard, and AI support services are open source in github.com/DawnLabsTech/vault. That does not, by itself, prove that the separate on-chain custody layer is published in this same repository.
Glossary
APY
Annual Percentage Yield — annualized return including compounding
Base Layer
Always-on yield strategy (Kamino Multiply + Lending)
Alpha Layer
Conditional yield strategy (delta-neutral) — activates only during favorable conditions
Circuit Breaker
Autonomous safety mechanism: auto-exit on TVL crash, oracle drift, or withdrawal failure
dawnSOL
Dawn Labs' Liquid Staking Token — represents staked SOL with Dawn Labs' validator
Delta-Neutral (DN)
Equal long spot + short perp positions, eliminating directional exposure while earning funding rates
Funding Rate (FR)
Periodic payment between long/short traders in perpetual futures to keep perp prices aligned with spot
High Water Mark (HWM)
Highest-ever share price — performance fees only charged on new profits above HWM
Kamino Multiply
Leveraged stablecoin loop strategy on Kamino — deposit collateral, borrow, swap, re-deposit
LP Token
Liquidity Provider Token — represents a depositor's proportional share of a vault
LST
Liquid Staking Token — represents staked assets usable in DeFi while earning staking rewards
Manager Bot
Off-chain automated system executing vault strategies, managing positions, monitoring risk
Market Scanner
Monitors Kamino Multiply pool APYs and recommends switching when economics justify
Multiply Risk Scorer
4-dimension evaluation: depeg risk (30%), liquidation proximity (30%), exit liquidity (20%), reserve pressure (20%)
Lending Risk Scorer
5-dimension evaluation: TVL scale (30%), protocol maturity (20%), reserve utilization (25%), deposit concentration (15%), incident history (10%)
PDA
Program Derived Account — Solana account owned by a program, used for non-custodial asset custody
Share Price
Value of one LP token in the vault's base asset. Increases as the vault earns yield
TVL
Total Value Locked — total assets deposited in a vault or protocol
Voltr
Vault framework by Ranger Finance on which Dawn Vault is built
Yield Provenance
Practice of decomposing and disclosing every source of vault yield
Yield Smoothing Reserve (YSR)
Reserve funded by validator commission that stabilizes vault APY during unfavorable conditions
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