docs reference

Glossary

Definitions of the terms used across these docs.

Definitions of the terms used throughout these docs, in alphabetical order. Figures given here are illustrative and subject to governance.

Basis risk

The difference between what a cover position pays and what the cover buyer actually loses. A halt that stops short of a tier's threshold pays nothing however costly it was, and a triggered position pays its fixed payout size whatever the real loss. See basis risk.

Buy and burn

The half of the protocol fee, 5% of each premium, that is used to buy $STALL and burn it, permanently removing the purchased tokens from supply. See Fees.

Capacity

The most cover a tier can have outstanding: its vault assets plus the first-loss capital staked for it. Cover cannot be bought in a tier that is at capacity. See the capacity rule.

Cover

STALL's product: a fixed USDC payout made when the Sequencer Uptime Feed shows a halt that exceeds a trigger tier's threshold. Cover is a parametric smart-contract product, not an insurance policy.

Cover buyer

The party that pays a premium for a cover position. Payouts go directly to the cover buyer's address.

Cover outstanding

The total payout size of all active cover positions in a tier. Cover outstanding can never exceed the tier's capacity.

Cover period

The 30 days for which a cover position runs. A halt is covered if it begins during the cover period, even if it ends after the period does.

Cover position

A single purchase of cover, defined by a payout size, a trigger tier and a cover period. A cover position pays out at most once and closes after paying; otherwise it expires at the end of its period.

First-loss capital

$STALL staked in front of a tier's vault. It absorbs payouts first, up to its full amount, and counts towards the tier's capacity. The method for valuing it against USDC liabilities has not been finalised. See $STALL staking and first loss.

Governance

Decision-making by $STALL stakers over tiers, rates and oracle configuration. The protocol fee and its split are also subject to governance.

Halt

A period during which the Base sequencer does not produce blocks. For STALL, a halt runs from the Sequencer Uptime Feed round that reports the sequencer down to the round that reports it up again.

Halt duration

The length of a halt as measured from the Sequencer Uptime Feed's own status timestamps: from the round that reports the sequencer down to the round that reports it up again. It can differ from the duration reported on a status page. See measuring halt duration.

L2

A layer-2 network: a chain that runs on top of Ethereum. Base is an Ethereum L2.

Nested tiers

The property that the thresholds are ordered 15 min, 1 h and 3 h, so any halt that crosses a longer threshold has also crossed every shorter one. A 2 h halt triggers the 15 min tier and the 1 h tier. See nested tiers.

Parametric

Paying on a measured event rather than on an assessed loss. STALL cover pays when the halt duration exceeds a threshold, with no claim and no committee.

Payout size

The amount of USDC a cover position pays if it is triggered, chosen by the cover buyer, for example 10,000 USDC.

Premium

The price of a cover position, paid upfront in USDC for one 30-day cover period: payout size multiplied by the tier rate. Illustrative rates are 12% for the 15 min tier, 4% for the 1 h tier and 1% for the 3 h tier. The premium is not refunded if the position expires.

Protocol fee

10% of every premium. Half, 5% of the premium, goes to $STALL stakers; the other half goes to buy and burn. See Fees.

Restart

The moment the sequencer resumes producing blocks after a halt. Queued status updates are processed and settlement takes place in the first blocks after the restart.

Sequencer

The component that receives transactions on Base, orders them and produces blocks. Base runs on a single sequencer, so when it halts, the whole chain halts.

Sequencer Uptime Feed

The Chainlink L2 Sequencer Uptime Feed on Base, STALL's only trigger. On Base mainnet it is at 0xBCF85224fc0756B9Fa45aA7892530B47e10b6433. Its answer is 0 when the sequencer is up and 1 when it is down, and startedAt is the timestamp of the last status change. See Trigger and oracle.

Settlement

The process that measures a halt and pays triggered cover positions. It is designed to run in the first blocks after the restart, to be permissionless, and to pay cover buyers' addresses directly, in batches if many positions are triggered. See Settlement.

Staker

A holder who stakes $STALL as first-loss capital. Stakers earn 5% of premiums, absorb payouts first when a tier is triggered, and govern tiers, rates and oracle configuration.

$STALL

The protocol token, designed to be staked as first-loss capital and used in governance. $STALL is not launched. There is no contract address, and supply, allocation and launch date are to be announced. The only official announcements will come from x.com/stallbase (opens in a new tab).

Threshold

The halt duration that triggers a tier: 15 min, 1 h or 3 h. A tier is triggered when the halt duration is longer than its threshold.

Trigger tier

The halt duration a cover position is bought against. There are three, each with its own vault:

Trigger tier	Threshold	Illustrative rate per 30-day period
15 min tier	15 min	12%
1 h tier	1 h	4%
3 h tier	3 h	1%