ERC-4626 is the standard interface for tokenized vaults: contracts where users deposit a token and receive shares that represent their part of the vault, which grows as the vault earns yield. Lending markets, yield aggregators, staking wrappers and structured products all use it. Because the interface is standard, any front-end, aggregator or other protocol can integrate a new vault without custom code.
What the Standard Defines
- Deposit and mint: putting assets in, either by amount of assets or by amount of shares.
- Withdraw and redeem: taking assets out, again by assets or by shares.
- Preview and conversion functions: showing exactly what a user will get before they act.
- Limits: maximum deposits and withdrawals, so integrations know what is possible right now.
Where Vaults Go Wrong
- Rounding: every conversion must round in favour of the vault, never the user. Small rounding errors in the wrong direction can be repeated to drain value.
- Inflation (first-depositor) attacks: in an empty vault, an attacker can manipulate the share price so the next depositor receives zero shares. Virtual shares, a decimals offset or an initial seed deposit prevent this.
- Price of the underlying: if the vault's value depends on an external price or another protocol, that dependency needs the same care as any oracle.
- Fees: performance and management fees must be reflected consistently in the preview functions, or integrations get wrong numbers.
- Withdrawals that cannot be instant: when assets are locked in a strategy, the max-withdraw functions must say so honestly; asynchronous vault extensions exist for this case.
What We Build
ERC-4626 vaults with strategies on top of established protocols, wrappers that make existing yield positions composable, and the tooling around them: yield dashboards, monitoring and keeper automation. See also our DeFi development services.
Frequently Asked Questions about ERC-4626
Why use ERC-4626 instead of a custom vault?
Integration. Wallets, aggregators and other protocols already understand the interface, so your vault is usable across the ecosystem without custom work on their side.
Can a vault charge fees?
Yes. Fees are typically taken by minting shares to a fee recipient or by adjusting the share price, and must be reflected in the preview functions.
Are ERC-4626 vaults audited by default?
No. The standard defines the interface, not the safety of your strategy. Every vault needs its own tests and, for real value, an independent audit, see audit support.
Who owns the code?
Ownership of the source code is set out in the contract, and the code can be fully yours, including documentation and tests.
Part of our work on Ethereum standards (EIPs and ERCs) and smart contract development.
Build Your Vault
Tell us which asset goes in and how it should earn. We will design a vault that is standard, safe and easy to integrate.