KETJU Research

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synthetic-yield

ScrubVault

Rejected
Max sleeve
Reviewed
2026-08-15 · v1
Next review
2026-11-15
Chains
Arbitrum One · hybrid

Rejected venues wait the longest for re-review; a rejection has to earn another look before the scheduled date.

ScrubVault is a managed vault on Kava and Arbitrum that takes USDt or USDC deposits and deploys capital off-chain across centralized and decentralized exchanges for a delta-neutral funding-rate and market-making strategy. The adapter read on 2026-08-15 reported about $135,600 across Kava and Arbitrum from strategy-reported totalVaultValue, not stablecoins held by the deposit contracts. The shared v1 off-chain-credit and basis-trade dossier controls regardless of size because holders cannot independently reconcile exchange positions, counterparties, margin, NAV or loss allocation.

The research file

Mechanism and identity applicability

ScrubVault accepts USDt on Kava or USDC on Arbitrum and issues proportional vault shares while a manager operates delta-neutral funding-rate and market-making positions across centralized and decentralized exchanges. Its dedicated scrub-vaults adapter and DepositVault contracts are distinct from the separate Kava LP/gauge balances counted under scrub-invest.

Current observation and accounting boundary

The DefiLlama ScrubVault endpoint read on 2026-08-15 reported approximately $135,600 across Kava and Arbitrum and classified the product as Basis Trading. The adapter reads totalVaultValue from each DepositVault and explicitly says deposited stablecoins are moved off-chain, leaving roughly zero token balance in the contracts; the reported value is a strategy-role record of assets under management rather than an independent position reconciliation.

Control, counterparty, loss and exit applicability

Holders depend on operator execution, exchange custody and access, perpetual and spot liquidity, hedge maintenance, funding direction, collateral and margin management, and accurate NAV reporting. A share redemption can be paid only when the managed book returns liquid stablecoins. Contract visibility does not reveal gross and net positions, venue liabilities, liquidation exposure, realized trading losses or creditor recovery if an exchange or operator fails.

Why the shared dossier decides

The shared v1 off-chain-credit dossier expressly includes opaque managed derivatives and basis trades. ScrubVault wraps exchange accounts and off-chain execution whose assets, liabilities, counterparties and loss allocation cannot be continuously verified on-chain. Reopen only with independent exchange-account and on-chain-position attestations, gross and net exposure, collateral and margin, venue concentration, role controls, realized funding and trading losses, and proposed-size stressed redemption results.

Sources

The claims above trace to these. Where a number could not be independently verified, the thesis says so.

Inherited controls

The verdict above grades the protocol layer. Every position also inherits the asset it holds and the chain it settles on. The least safe layer sets the position’s grade, and the position table names which one that is.

ChainVerdictGradeControl constraint
Arbitrum OneApproved · limits hybrid a single sequencer orders >99% of transactions and admin keys can upgrade bridge contracts on a ~7-day timelock.
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