Sherpa

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

SherpaEarn issues shUSD against a multi-chain USDC vault whose capital allocation is managed by Hedgemony across changing delta-neutral carry, basis, volatility-hedging and arbitrage strategies. Depositors approve neither an immutable venue list nor per-venue limits; the manager and operator rebalance capital across chains and report aggregate yield into the synchronized share price. That continuing discretion fits the version-1 delegated-allocation dossier regardless of size. The 2026-08-16 survey measured about $0.46M across Ethereum, Base and Monad, adding an independent capacity barrier.

Kill criteria: the events that revoke this verdict
• The vault immutably enforces a client-specific allowlist and per-venue limits covering only currently approved protocols
• Position-level holdings, debt, realized losses and executable withdrawal liquidity are continuously published and independently reconcile across Ethereum, Base and Monad

The research file

Managed strategy applicability

Sherpa describes a global USDC strategy allocated by Hedgemony, a digital-asset fund, among positive-carry capture, basis trading, volatility hedging and other arbitrage opportunities. Algorithmic rebalancing and macro signals can change venues and positions after a client deposits. shUSD represents a pro-rata claim on the combined strategy rather than an immutable USDC position in a named approved protocol. Both applicability tests for delegated allocation therefore fire.

Cross-chain control and accounting

The same CREATE2 vault and wrapper system spans Ethereum, Base and Monad. Operator-controlled ownerMint and ownerBurn functions adjust yield distribution and cross-chain liquidity, offchain keepers advance cycles and synchronize global state, and Chainlink CCIP pools burn and mint shUSD between networks. Multi-RPC checks and emergency unpause reduce some operational risks but do not let a client enforce an advisor-approved underlying venue list or capital limit.

Current observation, audit and loss boundary

The DefiLlama adapter reads totalStaked plus totalPending USDC from the SherpaVault on all three chains; the 2026-08-16 API value was about $0.46M, predominantly Ethereum. Cyfrin audited the documented vault contracts and reports listed findings resolved. That audit does not cover every trading venue, hedge, bridge, offchain model, execution decision or market loss inherited from Hedgemony’s live allocation. Sherpa itself states that strategy losses remain possible.

Exit and comparison

Deposits and withdrawals settle in cycles maintained by an offchain keeper; standard withdrawals take one cycle and require reserve on the selected network. Cross-chain withdrawal can additionally depend on CCIP and synchronized accounting. Direct USDC positions in individually approved lending venues preserve protocol look-through and explicit caps, unlike aggregate shUSD. Reopen only if the vault immutably enforces the client mandate’s allowlist and limits and continuously publishes underlying positions, losses and executable chain-level withdrawal liquidity.

Sources

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

• Sherpa — vault and managed strategy overview · primary · accessed 2026-08-16
  Supports: Hedgemony manager, delta-neutral strategies, basis trading, volatility hedging, algorithmic rebalancing
• Sherpa — multi-chain contracts and operator controls · primary · accessed 2026-08-16
  Supports: Ethereum, Base, Monad, ownerMint, ownerBurn, CCIP, shUSD
• Sherpa — cycles and keeper dependency · primary · accessed 2026-08-16
  Supports: cycle settlement, offchain keeper, yield reporting delay, share price
• Sherpa — withdrawal flow · primary · accessed 2026-08-16
  Supports: pending withdrawal, network reserve, cycle exit, USDC settlement
• Sherpa — Cyfrin audit and findings · primary · accessed 2026-08-16
  Supports: Cyfrin, contract scope, owner controls, withdrawal findings, resolved findings
• DefiLlama adapter — SherpaEarn vault accounting · secondary · accessed 2026-08-16
  Supports: totalStaked, totalPending, USDC, Ethereum, Base, Monad
• DefiLlama — Sherpa survey record · secondary · accessed 2026-08-16
  Supports: current TVL, chain perimeter, Onchain Capital Allocator category

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.