Yield Engine

The Yield Engine is the module that puts idle dollars to work. It runs a market-neutral strategy for a shared pool, and holders of the pool's shares own a part of the pool's value.

In development. Not audited and not open to customer funds. Proving on the project's own capital has not started.

How it is designed

One pool, shares for everyone in it

Money in the pool is managed as one position, not one position per user. When the pool opens, depositing USDC gives you wzdUSD, a share of the pool. The pool's net asset value divided by the number of shares gives the share price. Income raises the share price; losses lower it.

The strategy

The engine holds an asset on spot and shorts the same amount on a perpetual futures market, so price moves on one side are offset on the other. What remains is the funding payment that, in positive-funding markets, flows from longs to shorts. See Delta-neutral explained for the mechanics and the risks.

Two tranches

• Main pool (senior): the shares that holders own.

• First-loss buffer (junior): capital from the project that absorbs losses before they reach the main pool.

Gains are shared across the pool. Losses hit the first-loss buffer first. The buffer is limited: losses larger than it reach the main pool.

Safety switches

If the system detects that the pool's backing falls short of what it should be, it freezes new activity rather than carrying on. A failure to check counts as a failure, so the switch fails closed.

Custody

• The key that can move funds out of the pool's trading account is held off-server, not on Zirodelta's infrastructure.

• The server trades with a separate key that the exchange itself limits to placing, changing and cancelling orders. Withdrawals signed with it are rejected by the protocol.

• Payouts from the pool need a co-signature from the off-server key.

See Custody and keys.

The path to opening

1. Prove it on the project's own capital, on a public address anyone can watch.

2. Independent security audit of the contracts.

3. Legal review.

4. Only then, accept customer funds, with a cap that starts small.

Status

In development. The strategy and the vault contract are built and tested on testnet.