Multi Asset Vaults

Unlike V1 vaults, V2 allows for multi-deposit assets, providing Curators with greater flexibility.

• Asset Model: Users deposit multiple ERC-20 assets and mint an ERC-20 receipt token. Withdrawals from the vault are processed to the single reference asset of the vault. (e.g. A vault accepts both USDC and USDT deposits but the reference asset is set to USDC. All redemptions are processed in USDC.)

• Baskets: Curators can define a basket of accepted assets (e.g., USDC, USDT, DAI) that mint a single, unified share token.

When architecting a V2 vault, the most critical design decision for partners and strategists is the Custody & Execution Model. This choice determines how assets are secured, how strategies are executed, and how the vault’s Net Asset Value (NAV) is reported.

Upshift provides two primary institutional paths: the August Subaccount (Smart Contract Wallet) and the Fordefi (MPC) Solution.

V2 Upshift Vault Custody Models

1. August Subaccount:

   1. Deployed by August

   2. Owned by the Vault

   3. Strategist given trader role

   4. Trader role allows Strategist to execute strategy; interact with DeFi protocols.

   5. Subject to permissioned security scheme controlling whitelisting of integrations

      1. Protocol and token integrations include price feeds to capture value of positions (spot), or value of positions on DeFi protocols.

      2. Integrations mean August can calculate NAV of positions.

   6. Assets cannot be sent to external addresses.

   7. Partners control whitelisting of protocols and tokens (via August).

   8. Execution of trades via swap module

      1. Swap module only allows trades between whitelisted tokens.

      2. Tokens cannot be sent to an external address.

   9. Bridge module to allow run chain strategies, which allow strategist to bridge assets to subaccounts if the subaccount is deployed on other chains.

      1. Supports Layerzero (stargate), and Chainlink CCIP bridging standard. Bridge module prevents funds being sent to external addresses.

   10. August can calculate the mark to market for options (OTC or Deribit).

   11. August can capture CeFi perp position value via APIs.

2. Fordefi (MPC):

   1. August can provide access to Fordefi through a shared workplace.

   2. Transaction policy to control the contract, and token approvals.

   3. Strategist submits transaction policy requests, August team, and third-party (protocol or chain partner) if applicable are required to approve changes to the transaction policy.

   4. Strategist calculates NAV. An operator address is set up within the shared workspace. The Strategist is responsible to propose NAV updates, which is then validated by the August pricing engine.

The vault deploys capital by allocating funds to August subaccounts, which are managed by a Curator. Each subaccount is specifically designed to segregate strategies for cleaner accounting and enhanced transparency. Importantly, the Strategist managing a subaccount does not have direct custody of the funds — withdrawals from subaccounts are prohibited by smart contract logic until certain conditions are met, ensuring the security of user assets.

Rather than directly accessing the funds, Curators can only interact with pre-approved protocols, tokens, and addresses that are whitelisted by either Upshift or the partner protocol. This structure ensures that capital remains under strict control, while allowing Strategists to manage yield-generating strategies within clearly defined boundaries. The multiple subaccount system also enables the vault manager to retain some idle capital in a sub account, facilitating user deposits and withdrawals when needed.

Once yield has been generated by the underlying strategy, it can be “realized” by being paid back as interest from a subaccount to the ERC-4626 vault. This increases the price of the receipt token correspondingly. Where receipt token ERC20 = sum(deposits) + sum(interest_repaid)).

Yield realization

Strategies generate yield, which is repaid to the vault as interest, increasing the receipt token’s value.

Withdrawals

The vault is configurable with an optional cooldown period. To withdraw, retail users can request a redemption by calling “Request Redemption”. Their receipt tokens are then sent back to the vault. At the end of the cooldown period, user can either manually claim to withdraw or wait for the Upshift keeper (or anyone else) to call processClaims(), which processes all available redemptions for that day. All receipt tokens are then burned and corresponding reference token is sent back to the depositors.

Benefits of this structure

This gives the vault manager to flexibility and control as to when the yield is being realized. This is convenient in the case of fixed maturity opportunities for which it is preferable to wait until expiry to realize the yield.