Architecture at a glance
Unvault is non-custodial: users sign from their own wallets, and every state change happens in a smart contract on a public chain. Unvault's servers index, display, and — for a few actions — co-sign. The contracts themselves are owned and administered by UV Tech Foundation; Unvault (BVI) Ltd holds no admin keys to them.
Contract groups#
| Group | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Settlement | Matches signed listings and offers and transfers item + payment atomically, paying the 0.5% marketplace fee and creator earnings | Off-chain signed orders settled through the Seaport protocol with an Unvault signed zone; English and Dutch auctions run in a separate auction contract. Creator earnings are paid on every collection, enforced on-chain or not. |
| Collections | ERC-721AC implementations deployed for launchpad collections | ERC-721A batch minting plus ERC-721C creator-earnings enforcement; cross-chain extension for vaultable collections. |
| Transfer validator | Enforces which operators may transfer tokens of a creator-token collection | Configured so sales through Unvault and other compliant marketplaces pay creator earnings; the vault contract is allow-listed for lock/unlock transfers. |
| Vault and messaging | Locks an item on the origin chain and mirrors it on the destination chain via a cross-chain messaging protocol (LayerZero) | One usable copy of an item across all chains at any time; a 0.69 USDC vault fee per move, plus the messaging fee. |
| Pools | BUY / SELL / TRADE liquidity pools per collection, deployed through a factory | Owner-set spot price, linear or exponential delta, and fee rate; a 10% protocol swap fee applies to each swap into or out of a pool. |
| DIVIT | Per-collection pools that receive creator earnings and distribute rewards | Splits between holders, creator, protocol and minters (the Minter's Bonus); claims verified against Unvault-signed proofs from the cycle snapshot; optional gacha cycles. |
A trade#
- Seller approves the settlement contract for the collection (once per collection per chain) and signs a listing (no gas).
- Buyer fills the listing. For collections that enforce creator earnings, the fill includes an Unvault server signature authorizing the transfer route.
- Settlement transfers the item and the payment, and pays the marketplace fee and creator earnings in the same transaction.
A vault move#
- Owner transfers the item into the vault contract on chain A (lock).
- The vault sends a cross-chain message naming the item and the beneficial owner.
- The destination contract on chain B mints or releases the mirror item to the owner.
- Unvaulting reverses the flow; the mirror is locked or burned and the original is released.
Server signatures#
Some actions require an EIP-712 signature from an Unvault signer in addition to the user's own: allowlist mint vouchers, and fulfilment of orders on creator-earnings-enforced collections. Unvault can withhold a signature to enforce its policies; withholding only limits what can be done through Unvault.
Patent notice#
The vault and cross-chain protocol is the subject of International Patent Application No. PCT/US25/55750 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/985,753. These docs describe public interfaces, not the protected internals.
Markdown version: /architecture.md · llms.txt · Use of the APIs is governed by the Terms of Service, Section 21.