> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://ample-2.gitbook.io/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://ample-2.gitbook.io/docs/vaults-and-deposits/how-vaults-work.md).
# How Vaults Work
A vault is where your deposit lives. Each one holds a single asset on a single chain and earns yield from a defined strategy. Ample vaults implement **ERC-4626**, the vault standard used across DeFi, so your deposit is represented by shares whose underlying value is readable onchain by anyone, at any time, without trusting our interface.
### Where the yield comes from
Deposits are deployed into **institutional-grade onchain lending markets, currently strategies on Euler and Morpho**. Ample's contracts are built on Euler, one of the most rigorously reviewed protocols in DeFi with more than twenty independent audits behind it, alongside Morpho, which secures billions in deposits across the ecosystem. Borrowers on these markets post more collateral than they borrow, and the interest they pay is the yield Ample's vaults collect.
Ample runs a strict yield policy. Institutional-grade, overcollateralized markets only, with no leverage, no directional positions, and no exotic strategies, under any circumstances. The excitement in this product lives at the payout layer, never at the deposit layer.
Each cycle, the yield a vault generates accrues to its payout reserve and becomes part of [the weekly pool](/docs/how-payouts-work/the-draw.md). For a sense of scale, a vault holding $5M at a 6% average rate contributes roughly
$$\frac{$5\text{M} \times 0.06}{52} \approx $5{,}800 \text{ per week}$$
and pools are sometimes additionally sponsored by Ample or campaign partners, which is why some weeks exceed pure yield.
### Properties every vault shares
* **Withdraw anytime**
* Shares redeem for the underlying asset whenever you choose. [Withdrawals](/docs/vaults-and-deposits/withdrawals.md) covers the details.
* **Deposit caps**
* Vaults may cap deposits to keep size matched to strategy capacity, which protects yield quality for existing depositors. Capped vaults show it in the app.
* **No Ample fees on deposits or withdrawals\***
* You pay network gas.
* **Audited contracts**
* Our infrastructure is built on top of EVK, which has been audited 50+ times, supported by a $7.5M bug bounty program with active threat monitoring.
* Ample's implementation on top has also been audited twice by Pashov Audit Group in December 2025 & April 2026, on top of the underlying venues' own extensive audit histories. More in [Security & Risk](/docs/security-and-risk/overview.md).
*\*You currently pay no fees to Ample, our fee switch is currently off. There will be communications from official channels if this changes anytime with enough notice.*
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