# 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

1. Seller approves the settlement contract for the collection (once per collection per chain) and signs a listing (no gas).
2. Buyer fills the listing. For collections that enforce creator earnings, the fill includes an Unvault server signature authorizing the transfer route.
3. Settlement transfers the item and the payment, and pays the marketplace fee and creator earnings in the same transaction.

## A vault move

1. Owner transfers the item into the vault contract on chain A (lock).
2. The vault sends a cross-chain message naming the item and the beneficial owner.
3. The destination contract on chain B mints or releases the mirror item to the owner.
4. 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.