Overview

Dawn Vault is a validator-native yield vault on Solana, built by Dawn Labs — an active Solana validator operator.

Concept

Most DeFi yield vaults sit on top of protocols as users. Dawn Vault starts at the infrastructure layer and extends into DeFi:

Traditional Vault:    DeFi Protocols → Yield
Dawn Vault:           Validator Infrastructure → DeFi Protocols → Yield

Validator revenue provides structural alpha unavailable to pure DeFi aggregators:

• dawnSOL staking rewards — The long leg of the delta-neutral strategy earns ~7% staking rewards on top of funding rate income

• Yield Smoothing Reserve — Validator commission-derived reserve stabilizes APY during unfavorable market conditions (Phase 2)

• Skin in the Game — Dawn Labs' own capital deployed under the same conditions as depositors

Two-Layer Architecture

Every Dawn Vault follows a Base Layer + Alpha Layer design:

Vault (Single Entry Point)
  ├── Base Layer   — Always-on, stable yield (Multiply / Lending / Staking)
  └── Alpha Layer  — Conditional, enhanced yield (activated when profitable)

The Base Layer ensures depositors always earn yield. The Alpha Layer activates only when market conditions justify the extra complexity.

Repository Scope

This open-source repository currently contains the off-chain operator stack for Dawn Vault:

• Manager bot and risk controls

• AI support services

• Monitoring dashboard

• Backtest tooling

The on-chain vault program, PDA custody layer, adapter programs, deployed addresses, and multisig governance artifacts are not included in this repository. Any claim about on-chain custody or admin separation should therefore be read as product architecture, not as something this repo alone can verify.

Vault Lineup

	USDC Vault	SOL Vault	BTC Vault
Base Layer	Kamino Multiply (primary) + USDC Lending (overflow)	Validator Staking (6-7%)	cbBTC Lending (1-3%)
Alpha Layer	SOL Delta-Neutral (conditional)	LST Loop (10-20%)	cbBTC collateral → USDC borrow → SOL DN (3.5-11%)
Phase	Phase 1 (Active)	Phase 2	Phase 3

Why Dawn Vault?

	Dawn Vault	Traditional Aggregators	Manual Strategies
Yield Source	Validator infra + DeFi	DeFi only	DeFi only
Risk Management	Automated with backtested parameters	Varies	Manual
Transparency	Full yield decomposition	Limited	N/A
Capital Efficiency	LST-enhanced (dawnSOL)	Standard	Standard
Downside Protection	Yield Smoothing Reserve	None	None

Japan Gateway — First Japanese-language Vault on Solana. Existing validator delegator base serves as initial TVL source, with full Japanese UI, reporting, and support.

System Architecture

Core Components

Component	Description
Vault Program	On-chain (Voltr SDK): deposits, withdrawals, LP token accounting, fee management, PDA custody
Adapter Programs	CPI-gated connectors to Kamino (Multiply/Lending) and Jupiter (Lend/Swap). Whitelisted — only approved protocols can access vault assets
Manager Bot	Off-chain strategy engine: dynamic allocation, market scanning, rebalancing, hedge management, risk monitoring
Risk Scoring	Multiply Risk Scorer (4-dimension) + Lending Risk Scorer (5-dimension) — see Risk & Security

Security Model

• Operator Stack in This Repo: The code here covers monitoring, allocation logic, risk checks, AI support, and dashboard access control.

• Planned / External Custody Layer: PDA custody, adapter whitelisting, admin multisig, and locked-profit mechanics belong to the separate on-chain layer and must be verified from deployed program docs and audit material.

• Production Access Control: The dashboard and proxy can be protected with FRONTEND_API_SECRET, while the bot API requires API_AUTH_TOKEN and is intended to stay behind the frontend proxy on localhost.