Share locking

A share locker is a contract that holds vault shares until a set date. Anyone can lock their shares in it. On release 0.12.0, nobody can end a lock early once it is made, so a lock is a commitment that others can check onchain. In the Tango app, creators use locks to show backers that they have money in their own strategy.

Key points

• Each vault has a share locker. Anyone can lock their shares in it for a term within bounds fixed at deployment.
• From release 0.12.0, the locker has no owner. Nobody can release a lock early, and once a lock is due, anyone can release it, always to its owner.
• The Tango app uses locks so creators can show backers, onchain, that they have money in their own strategy.

How a lock works

• A holder locks shares by moving them into the locker for a duration they choose, between the vault's minimum and maximum. Each lock records its owner, its shares and its unlock time.
• While the lock is held, the owner can extend it by moving the unlock time later. A lock can never be shortened.
• At or after the unlock time, anyone can release the lock. The shares always go to the lock's owner.
• The atomic deposit handler can deposit and lock the new shares in one transaction.

Locked shares are still vault shares. Their value moves with NAV (net asset value, the total value of everything the vault holds), and they bear fees like any other share. While they are locked, they cannot be transferred, redeemed or used in a forced exit.

Can a lock end early?

No, not on release 0.12.0. The locker has no owner and no admin functions. Nobody, including the vault's admin or the platform, can release a lock before its time. A holder with a lock in a vault that is failing must wait out the term.

Earlier releases worked differently:

What a lock shows

The locker reports two figures for each holder:

• Committed shares are shares in locks that have not reached their unlock time.
• Held shares are all shares still in the locker, including locks that are due but not yet released.

A lock is onchain evidence of commitment for its term. It is not a guarantee of returns, an endorsement, or a promise to keep money in the vault after the term ends.

How the Tango app uses it

In the app, creators can lock their own shares as a creator commitment:

• Deposit and Lock is an optional final step when a creator sets up a strategy. Creators can lock more later from Manage.
• Each vault's shortest and longest lock term are set when it is deployed, and the app shows them when a creator locks.
• Adding to a commitment creates a new lock and extends the earlier ones, so they all end together.
• Atomic deposits are off in perps strategies, so the creator requests a deposit, settles it, and then locks the delivered shares.
• The strategy page shows backers the amount locked and the unlock dates. It shows a Creator locked badge while a commitment is active. Larger commitments earn the Skin in the Game badge.
• Locks earn no rewards.

See Create a strategy.