How Turtle works

The flow from a liquidity provider deposit through on-chain attribution to distributor revenue and protocol incentives.

Turtle is infrastructure between DeFi yield opportunities and the platforms that distribute them. The clearest way to understand it is to follow a single deposit from start to finish.

This page is for a partner deciding whether and how to integrate Turtle, and it traces the full flow so you can see where your product plugs in.

The flow

1. A distributor surfaces an opportunity

   A distributor picks which vaults to show its users and links them to the deposit page, either through a no-code share link or a full API integration. Each link or transaction carries the distributor’s ID.

2. A liquidity provider deposits into a vault

   The LP deposits into the vault from their own wallet. The vault is one of many in the catalog, each reviewed before listing. The LP signs and submits the transaction; Turtle never takes custody.

3. Turtle attributes the deposit on-chain

   The distributor’s ID is embedded in the deposit calldata. Turtle monitors every supported chain and links the deposit to the distributor that sourced it. There is no manual reporting step.

4. The LP earns yield, and rewards on top

   The LP earns the vault’s base yield. On a featured opportunity (or Turtle Deal), the LP also earns extra token emissions funded by the protocol, distributed through Turtle’s incentive products.

5. The distributor earns revenue share

   Because the deposit is attributed, the distributor earns recurring revenue share on the TVL it brought, for as long as that TVL stays. Protocols are billed on attributed TVL, so they pay only for liquidity Turtle delivered.

The pieces that run the flow

The same flow runs through a small set of products, each handling one part of the loop.

Earn is the distribution layer. It gives a distributor access to the full vault catalog through one integration, generates the deposit and withdrawal transactions, and tracks attributed activity, all scoped to a single distributor ID. See Turtle Earn.

Yield Opportunities are the opportunities themselves. An LP deposits, holds, and withdraws; some vaults settle instantly and some settle asynchronously. See Yield Opportunities.

Streams are how a protocol attaches extra incentives to a vault. A Stream is a self-serve reward campaign that pays LPs in proportion to their TVL.

Liquidity Campaigns define Turtle-selected opportunities that pass Turtle Due Diligence Council review and often include additional incentives to attract investors. A Liquidity Campaign is a selected series of vaults, often with additional incentives funded by a protocol treasury.

Swaps let an LP deposit from almost any EVM token into any supported vault, with routing handled inside the deposit flow.

Attribution and revenue share

Attribution is what makes the loop pay. Every deposit is linked on-chain to the distributor that sourced it, automatically, with no trusted reporting in between. Distributors earn recurring revenue share on attributed TVL, and the same on-chain record is what protocols are billed against. The full attribution mechanism for engineers lives in the distributor model.

The diligence standard

Opportunities on Turtle are not self-listed. Each vault goes through a structured review before a distributor can surface it. The review covers technical risk, smart contract exposure, operational risk, and curator assessment. See Trust and Security for how that review and the custody model protect LPs.