Glossary

Backing — a batch's live, slash-adjusted ATOM while it is still bonded. Tracked separately from the recorded obligation so a slash landing before processing is shared between continuing holders and the exiting batch. Equal to the obligation absent any slash.

Batch — a group of redemption requests unbonded together. Batching is forced by the Cosmos Hub's limit of 7 simultaneous unbonding entries per validator.

Batch window — how long a batch accumulates requests before it can be processed. Your total wait is up to one window, plus the unbonding period.

Claim reserve — finalized ATOM sitting in the contract waiting to be claimed.

Claimable at — when all of a batch's ATOM has arrived, taken from the chain's own completion times, not predicted.

Compounding — collecting staking rewards and re-delegating them into the pool. Raises the exchange rate without minting vATOM. Permissionless.

Deposit cap — a ceiling on the pool. Blocks new deposits when full; never affects redemptions.

Exchange rate — how much ATOM one vATOM is worth. Rises as rewards compound. See the exchange rate.

Finalize — measuring what actually came back from an unbonding and settling the batch. The stage where your exact payout becomes known. Mandatory before any claim.

Forecast maturity — the chain did not report a completion time, so the contract estimated it. Such a batch requires governed settlement, because an estimate cannot distinguish "slashed" from "has not arrived yet".

Haircut — see slashing effect.

Keeper — anyone calling the permissionless maintenance operations. Not a privileged role. See keeping it running.

Liquid staking — staking that gives you a transferable token representing the position, so the capital is not locked while it earns.

Non-rebasing — your token balance never changes on its own. Rewards arrive as a rising exchange rate instead. Easier for other contracts to integrate.

Obligation — the ATOM recorded as owed when you redeemed, priced at that moment. A recorded amount, not a guarantee: a slash during unbonding reduces the payout.

Pooled ATOM — ATOM backing the vATOM supply. The exchange rate's numerator.

Process — closing a batch and dispatching its undelegations. When the unbonding clock actually starts. Permissionless.

Reconcile — re-pricing the pool against the contract's live delegation, to reflect slashing. Only ever lowers. Permissionless.

Rewards vault — the companion contract that receives all staking rewards, so the main contract's balance holds only unbonded proceeds. That separation is what makes the finalize measurement exact. Immutable, and verified on chain before binding.

Slashing — the chain confiscating part of a delegation as a penalty. Applies to ATOM that is unbonding as well as bonded, so redeeming does not put you out of reach during the 21 days.

Slashing effect — the fraction of a batch's obligation that actually arrived. 1.0 means no loss; below 1.0 means the batch was slashed and payouts are reduced proportionally. Shown as haircut in the app.

Unbonding period — the delay the Cosmos Hub imposes before undelegated ATOM is released, about 21 days. Not a protocol choice.

Vesting rewards — recently compounded rewards not yet fully recognised in the exchange rate, phased in over 24 hours to prevent the just-in-time reward sandwich. Healthy when non-zero.

Withdrawal — one redemption request. Has an id, belongs to a batch, and can be claimed by either its owner or its nominated receiver.