docs introduction
Overview
What STALL is, who it is for, the three roles and how they connect.
STALL is parametric outage cover for Base. Base runs on a single sequencer. When the sequencer halts, nobody can swap, repay, add collateral or withdraw on Base, while prices keep moving elsewhere. STALL is designed to pay a fixed amount of USDC automatically when a halt exceeds a chosen threshold.
There is no claim to file and no committee to convince. The trigger is the Chainlink L2 Sequencer Uptime Feed on Base, and payouts are designed to execute in the first blocks after the chain restarts.
Who it is for
STALL is for anyone whose position on Base becomes riskier when they cannot transact:
- Borrowers who cannot repay or add collateral while the value of that collateral moves.
- Market makers whose inventory and quotes on Base are stuck while other venues reprice.
- Perps desks that cannot adjust margin or hedges until blocks resume.
- Fast-bridge liquidity providers whose capital on Base cannot be moved or rebalanced during a halt.
Cover pays its fixed payout size whatever the cover buyer's actual loss. It is a hedge against an event, not compensation for a loss; see basis risk.
The three roles
| Role | Puts in | Receives | Bears |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cover buyer | A premium in USDC, paid upfront | The full payout size if a qualifying halt begins during the cover period | The loss of the premium if no qualifying halt occurs |
| Underwriter | USDC deposited into one tier's vault | 90% of the premiums paid in that tier | Payouts beyond first-loss capital, pro rata |
| Staker | $STALL staked as first-loss capital | 5% of premiums, and a vote in governance | The first payouts in a tier, up to the full stake |
How the pieces connect
- A cover buyer chooses a payout size, a trigger tier (15 min, 1 h or 3 h) and a 30-day cover period, and pays the premium upfront.
- 90% of the premium is credited to the tier's vault. The other 10% is the protocol fee: half goes to $STALL stakers and half to buy and burn of $STALL.
- The Sequencer Uptime Feed records when the sequencer goes down and when it comes back up. Tiers are nested, so a halt that exceeds the 3 h threshold has also exceeded the 15 min and 1 h thresholds.
- After the restart, anyone can call settlement. It computes the halt duration from the feed and pays every triggered cover position directly to the cover buyer's address.
- Payouts are absorbed first by the first-loss capital staked for that tier, then by the tier's vault.
Each tier is fully collateralised. Cover outstanding in a tier can never exceed its vault assets plus its staked first-loss capital, because every cover position in a tier triggers at the same moment.
Where to go next
- The problem: what stops during a halt, and the incident history.
- How cover works: premiums, trigger tiers and the life of a cover position.
- Trigger and oracle: how the feed reports a halt and how its duration is measured.
- Settlement: what happens in the first blocks after a restart.
- Underwriting vaults: capacity, the loss waterfall and withdrawals.
- $STALL staking and first loss: the first-loss position and governance.
- Fees: the protocol fee and buy and burn.
- Worked examples: the arithmetic for cover buyers, underwriters and stakers.
- Risks: what can go wrong, for every role.
- FAQ and Glossary.
Independence and scope
STALL is an independent project. It is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, Base, Coinbase or Chainlink. STALL cover is a parametric smart-contract product, not an insurance policy, and nothing in these docs is financial advice. The only official channel for announcements is x.com/stallbase (opens in a new tab).