GLAM Vaults: Programmable Containers for Internet Capital Markets

As capital moves onchain, enforcement of asset management rules must shift from documents to code. Tokenization has unlocked distribution, and billions now move through public networks. But capital efficiency remains limited. The missing piece is control over how capital behaves once it is onchain. Institutions need infrastructure that defines and enforces asset management rules, without relying on offchain intermediaries.

Current infrastructure assumes intermediaries. Onchain infrastructure requires program-level enforcement. In legacy systems, rules are enforced by custodians, administrators, or legal contracts. This creates a gap for investors who want to delegate without giving up control, and managers who need automation without compromising policy enforcement.

GLAM Vaults: A New Primitive

GLAM Vaults enforce control over digital assets through programmable containers that define who can act, what actions are allowed, and under what conditions. Where tokens handle ownership, vaults govern action. Vaults make it possible to delegate execution without giving up control by enforcing rules at the program level.

GLAM replaces offchain processes with code-enforced rules. There is no ambiguity, programs enforce behavior with precision.

A GLAM Vault is an onchain container that:

• Holds assets in a segregated account where all movements are subject to programmatic constraints
• Assigns roles with tightly scoped permissions using program-level access control
• Limits which protocols can be accessed and what actions can be executed, based on specific policies

Every vault is bound to explicit program-level rules that govern integrations, permissions, and actions.

Institutional Strategy Infrastructure

GLAM Vaults let institutional strategies operate onchain with automation, constraint enforcement, and policy-level control. Vaults support a wide range of strategy types by enforcing who can act, which protocols they can access, and how capital is allocated. Examples include:

Automated Yield Optimization: Asset managers can allocate stable assets across yield-generating opportunities while enforcing diversification, liquidity, and risk thresholds. 

Hedged LP Strategies: Managers can provide liquidity to onchain venues while neutralizing directional risk through hedging.

Leveraged RWA Exposure: Institutions can use tokenized real-world assets as collateral to gain additional exposure while maintaining strict risk constraints. 

All execution boundaries are defined in advance, enforced by code, and transparently verifiable onchain.

Separation of Concerns: Custody, Access, Execution

GLAM separates custody from action. Vaults hold capital. The protocol decides what can be done with it. This approach isolates ownership from execution, creating clear boundaries that enable fine-grained access control while minimizing operational risk.

Operational actions, such as trading, staking, or interacting with integrations, are only allowed if they pass the vault's permissions and policies.

Vaults support secure delegation. Managers, developers, or systems can be granted tightly scoped authority for specific tasks, such as:

• An investment manager with authority to allocate across approved venues
• A trader restricted to swaps and trades within predefined markets
• An automated risk system authorized only to reduce exposure under specific conditions

Vaults enforce explicit, unambiguous rules defining who can act and how capital may be used. Policies are binding. Permissions are scoped and enforced automatically.

Deterministic Systems for Institutional Risk

Vaults enforce explicit rules that define who can act and what they can do with capital. Policies are binding. Permissions are scoped. Vaults replace discretionary control with deterministic execution.

Traditional asset management relies on a complex mesh of contracts, legal agreements, and human oversight. GLAM replaces these with onchain logic that enforces rules automatically. Execution becomes predictable, testable, and verifiable.

Every permitted action is defined in advance and visible onchain. Integrations are opt-in. Capital cannot move unless rules allow it. Nothing happens without valid permission. Vaults can be tested, verified, and continuously monitored, unlike anything in traditional finance.

Composable Strategy Design

GLAM Vaults are not isolated systems. They support pooled capital strategies across integrated protocols, each explicitly enabled by the vault. Each integration is opt-in and governed by vault policies.

Most current onchain tools are siloed and manage single strategies: isolated systems for staking, yield optimization, or hedged liquidity provision. GLAM enables vaults to combine multiple strategies under one policy-controlled system: A single vault can lend through Kamino, stake via Sanctum, hedge on Drift, and rebalance using Jupiter, all within controlled, policy-defined parameters.

Vaults coordinate capital across integrations while enforcing constraints on access, risk, and behavior. This unlocks new strategy configurations with tighter control and reduced operational risk.

GLAM Vaults constrain not only which protocols are used, but precisely how they are used. Each protocol integration is opt-in and scoped to vault-defined permissions. Vaults retain comprehensive control over access permissions, allowable behaviors, and exposure across the system.

Asset managers can use vaults to build controlled, programmable investment strategies.

From Containers to Products

GLAM Vaults define how capital is managed: who can act, what they can do, and under what conditions. However, to make strategies accessible to investors, they must be wrapped in a transferable asset. That’s the role of GLAM Mints.

GLAM Mints issue tokens that represent access to a vault’s strategy and logic. They handle subscriptions, redemptions, and investor policies with the same programmatic enforcement as the vault itself.

Key Takeaways

• GLAM Vaults are programmable containers that enforce strict, verifiable rules on access, execution, and risk
• GLAM separates custody from action, enabling secure delegation with minimized operational risk
• Vaults support institutional strategies with built-in risk controls and automation
• GLAM Vaults support strategies across multiple protocols and control how each is accessed and used
• Vaults are deterministic systems that provide full auditability and predictable behavior

In the next article, we examine how vaults connect to mints to create tokenized, rule-enforced investment products.