Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the questions people ask most about Aqueduct, with links to the pages that explain each one in full.
On this page
- Using Aqueduct
- Is this real money?
- Which wallet can I use?
- Why did my transaction fail?
- Is there a minimum deposit or a lock-up?
- Why is my deposit still idle?
- Can I transfer my shares?
- Yield and fees
- Where does the yield come from?
- Why is the APY lower than the tier's target?
- What fees do I pay?
- Why doesn't the keeper chase the highest rate?
- Safety
- Can the keeper steal my funds?
- Can the admin?
- What happens if the protocol is paused?
- What happens if the keeper goes down?
- Has it been audited?
- Developers
- Is the SDK on npm?
- Can I call the keeper API from my own app?
- Can I run my own keeper?
Using Aqueduct#
Is this real money?#
No. Aqueduct runs on Solana devnet with a test USDC token that anyone can mint for free and that has no value. The yields are real mainnet rates mirrored into simulated venues. See Devnet and mainnet.
Which wallet can I use?#
Any Solana wallet that supports the Wallet Standard, such as Phantom, Solflare or Backpack, switched to devnet. See the Quickstart.
Why did my transaction fail?#
Usually the wallet is on mainnet, or it has no devnet SOL for fees. The troubleshooting table covers the common cases, and every program error is listed in the program reference.
Is there a minimum deposit or a lock-up?#
No minimum beyond one share's smallest unit, and no lock-up. You can withdraw in the same block you deposited. The only limit is each vault's deposit cap of 5,000,000 USDC.
Why is my deposit still idle?#
The keeper keeps about 5% of each vault idle for withdrawals and only deploys the rest when the move is worth a transaction: at least 100 USDC and 0.5% of the vault. Small deposits can wait in idle until the next cycle where the excess is large enough. Your share price still rises with the vault as a whole. See Planning moves.
Can I transfer my shares?#
Yes. Shares are an ordinary SPL token. Whoever holds them can redeem them, so sending shares sends the position. See Shares.
Yield and fees#
Where does the yield come from?#
From the venues: borrowers paying interest on lending markets, plus, in Rapids, real-world-asset credit, delta-neutral strategies and fixed-rate tokens. Aqueduct does not create yield; it chooses where to lend and when to move. See Tiers and venues.
Why is the APY lower than the tier's target?#
The target ranges are design goals. The live APY is whatever the venues pay right now, weighted by the vault's allocation, after the performance fee, and with the idle buffer earning nothing. When stablecoin rates fall, so does the vault.
What fees do I pay?#
Only a performance fee of 5% (Bedrock) or 10% (Rapids) of yield above the vault's high-water mark. No deposit, withdrawal or management fee. The APY in the app is already after the fee. See Fees.
Why doesn't the keeper chase the highest rate?#
Because moving costs money and spreads between venues are small and short-lived. The keeper smooths rates, penalises risk and only moves when the expected gain over 30 days is at least twice the cost. Most cycles hold. See Rebalancer.
Safety#
Can the keeper steal my funds?#
No instruction lets it. The keeper can only move USDC between a vault's idle account and its whitelisted strategies, within their on-chain caps. It can, however, make poor allocation choices. See what the keeper can and cannot do.
Can the admin?#
Not through any current instruction, but the admin key is also the program's upgrade authority, and an upgrade can change anything. Today you trust that key completely. See Admin powers.
What happens if the protocol is paused?#
Deposits and new allocations stop. Withdrawals, exits from venues and fee sweeps keep working. See Pause.
What happens if the keeper goes down?#
Your funds stay where they are and keep earning, and you can still withdraw: withdrawals pull from strategies on their own. What stops is rebalancing, deploying idle funds and sentinel exits from failing venues.
Has it been audited?#
No. Automated reviews of the program and the off-chain code have been done, but there has been no independent audit. See Audit status and Risks.
Developers#
Is the SDK on npm?#
Not yet. @aqueduct/sdk is a workspace package in the monorepo, consumed as TypeScript source. See SDK.
Can I call the keeper API from my own app?#
Yes. It is public, read-only and allows any origin. See Keeper HTTP API.
Can I run my own keeper?#
Yes, against simulated paper vaults or your own deployment. Only the configured keeper key can move the devnet vaults. See Self-hosting the keeper.