> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.aultblockchain.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Vaults

> Deposit into managed strategies, and understand their fees and withdrawal rules.

> [!NOTE]
>
> **Testnet-Only.** Vaults is available on Ault Testnet. Mainnet currently supports Spot DEX only.

A vault pools deposits and a manager runs a permitted strategy with them. You receive shares, and their value changes with the strategy's returns, costs, and losses.

## Vault types

| Vault | How funds are used | Where you deposit |
| - | - | - |
| Normal Trading Vault | Permitted Spot or Perpetual strategies | The vault |
| Protocol Trading Vault | A parent vault takes deposits and allocates them to child vaults that trade | The parent vault |
| Lending Vault | Supplied to configured Lending pools | The Lending Vault |

## Key rules

1. **Deposit through the vault.** Sending tokens directly to a vault does not give you shares.
2. **Check the vault's terms.** Each vault sets its deposit token, manager, and permitted actions. Deposit and redemption windows can limit when you can enter or exit, and a manager's minimum stake requirement can reject a deposit.
3. **Know the fees.** Trading Vaults charge a performance fee on the profit from redeemed shares and can charge an exit fee. Lending Vaults charge a management fee by issuing new shares, which dilutes existing ones.
4. **Value is not the same as cash.** A Trading Vault's value can include open positions, which may need to be closed before redemptions are paid. Missing prices or a negative vault value can block deposits and redemptions.
5. **You bear the strategy's losses.** A manager's own stake does not protect your deposit.

## Redemptions

A Trading Vault redemption is either paid immediately or placed in a queue.

Requests are processed first in, first out, and the first request must be paid in full before the next one. **Your payout is calculated at settlement, not when you request it**, so it can change while you wait. The protocol can cancel orders and reduce positions to raise funds for payouts.

While requests are waiting in the queue, the manager cannot place or modify orders, including IOC orders that reduce a position. A child vault follows its parent's queue. The manager can still cancel orders and make permitted Perpetual collateral and margin changes.

With an empty queue, paused or closed Trading Vaults can still sell permitted Spot assets and place reduce-only Perpetual orders.

A Lending Vault pays from idle funds first, then withdraws from its pools in a set order. If there is not enough liquidity, the redemption fails instead of waiting in a queue.

## Liquidation and backstop risk

Trading Vaults with Perpetual positions follow the normal [liquidation and ADL rules](https://docs.aultblockchain.com/ault-dex/perpetuals.md#liquidation-and-adl). Protocol child vaults that are not closed and have backstop permission are exempt from ordinary liquidation, but can still be affected by ADL.


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