Squads Protocol is the smart contract wallet infrastructure powering Squads - the platform for teams on Solana and SVM seeking to securely manage their on-chain assets with multi-signature logic.
This article covers what Squads Protocol is, highlighting its potential applications for developers and various security measures we have implemented to offer a safe and reliable smart contract wallet layer for the Solana and SVM ecosystems.
What is Squads Protocol
Squads Protocol is a collection of programs (smart contracts) that together form the smart wallet infrastructure layer for Solana and SVM. It enables developers to deploy and program smart contract wallets - a next generation of self-custody solutions.
Smart (contract) wallets can have more complex rules and conditions for sending transactions than traditional hot and cold wallets like Ledger or Phantom. In the case of smart wallets user accounts are no longer single private keys, but instead programmable accounts managed by several keys. Traditional wallets make the account (which holds the assets) and the signer (which invokes transactions in respect of the assets) identical, whereas Squads Protocol’s programs “abstract” the signer from the account. The concept of such decoupling, allows for greater security and programmability, and is commonly referred to as Account Abstraction (AA).
Multisigs are perhaps the most well-known use case of AA, which are smart contract wallets managed by multiple owners requiring multiple signatures to confirm transactions. However, beyond multi-signature wallets AA allows for a plethora of features including social recovery, 2FA, daily withdrawal limits and alternative signing schemes. Developers have virtually limitless possibilities when it comes to what they can build around self-custody tools on Account Abstraction rails.
As of now, the Squads platform has already implemented several features that are enabled by Squads Protocol including multisig and batched transactions.
Built with Composability and Security in Mind
Squads Protocol is designed to simplify development for projects seeking to build on top of it. It makes it easy to leverage AA capabilities of Squads Protocol while using lightning fast and low fees of the Solana blockchain. Teams looking to build on top of Squads Protocol have access to the:
SDK, made to simplify interaction with Squads Protocol: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@sqds/sdk
Anchor IDLs: https://github.com/Squads-Protocol/squads-mpl/blob/main/idl/squads_mpl.ts
comprehensive documentation, drafted to guide them through the development process: https://docs.squads.so/squads-v3-docs/
open-source codebase, available for review: https://github.com/Squads-Protocol/squads-mpl
Composability of Squads Protocol is supported by a multitude of security measures undertaken by Squads Labs, to ensure that the protocol is a secure and reliable foundation for developers.
Measures implemented to ensure security of Squads V3 include:
Audits: Squads V3 has undergone several audits from reputable firms such as Neodyme and OtterSec;
Anchor: the entire code has been written using Anchor, a framework for building secure Solana programs;
Formally Verified: Squads Protocol is the first Solana protocol to be formally verified. Formal verification (FV) is the process of using a formal specification to verify the correctness of a system. The goal of FV is to ensure that a program is free of bugs and working as intended;
Immutability: since February 2023, the upgrade authority for v3 (SMPLecH534NA9acpos4G6x7uf3LWbCAwZQE9e8ZekMu) has been burned, making the program immutable. In essence it means that nobody controls the upgrade authority, even Squads Labs, the program lives autonomously on the Solana blockchain.
Moreover, countless key players in the ecosystem support and rely on Squads Protocol. Protocols like Mesha, Streamflow and others have built their products leveraging the protocol and relying on its capabilities, adding multisig support to their platforms.
Squads Protocol enables developers to create innovative self-custody solutions on Solana, leveraging the speed, low transaction fees and account abstraction capabilities of the Solana blockchain. Its numerous use cases, coupled with robust security measures, as well as adoption by multiple protocols, establish Squads Protocol as the leading smart contract wallet infrastructure for the Solana and SVM ecosystems.
For any teams looking for additional support on their journey of building on top of Squads Protocol or to have their questions answered, we are available to assist here.
Start Building on top of Squads Protocol
Code: https://github.com/Squads-Protocol/squads-mpl
SDK: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@sqds/sdk
IDLs: https://github.com/Squads-Protocol/squads-mpl/blob/main/idl/squads_mpl.ts
Documentation: https://docs.squads.so/squads-v3-docs/
