Glossary
Terms used across the site. Each one is linked, with its definition, the first time it appears on a page.
- Admin key
- A key stored in a protocol's own accounts that can change parameters, pause the protocol or move funds, without upgrading its code.
- A key that can change a Squads multisig's members, threshold and time lock without a vote. If it is set, it, not the multisig, is the real controller.
- Cross-program invocation
- How one Solana program calls another inside a transaction. Celebtir samples these calls to find a protocol's dependencies.
- Effective controller
- Whoever can finally act once control is followed to its end: through vaults, multisigs and config authorities.
- Evidence
- The on-chain account, field and slot a fact was read from, with a link to check it on Solscan.
- A key that can freeze any holder's balance of a token, so it cannot be moved.
- Immutable
- No key can change it: the upgrade authority was removed, or the program was deployed with a loader that cannot upgrade.
- A key that can create new supply of a token.
- Multisig
- An account that acts only when enough of its members approve. On Solana this is usually a Squads multisig.
- Oracle
- An account that publishes prices a protocol reads, for example to value collateral or trigger liquidations.
- Permanent delegate
- A Token-2022 extension that lets one key move or burn tokens from any wallet, without the holder's signature.
- ProgramData
- The account that holds an upgradeable Solana program's code and its upgrade authority.
- Signer
- A multisig member with the Vote permission. Celebtir counts signers, not all members, when it compares a threshold.
- Slot
- Solana's clock: each fact records the slot at which it was read.
- Squads
- The multisig program most Solana protocols use to hold upgrade and admin keys (version 4 is supported).
- Stage
- A protocol's headline level, from Stage 0 (the team can change everything quickly) to Stage 2 (users are protected even from the team). Stages describe control, not code security.
- Threshold
- How many signers of a multisig must approve before it can act.
- Time lock
- A wait between approving a change and the change taking effect, which gives users time to leave.
- Token-2022
- Solana's newer token program. Its extensions can add powers such as a permanent delegate, a transfer hook or a pause switch.
- Transfer hook
- A Token-2022 extension that runs a program on every transfer; that program can refuse transfers.
- TVL
- Total value locked: the value of assets deposited in a protocol, from DefiLlama. Context only; it never changes a rating.
- The key or account that can replace a Solana program's code. It is stored in the program's ProgramData account.
- Verified build
- Proof that the deployed program was built from a public commit, checked by OtterSec's verification service.
- Weakest link
- A protocol is rated by its weakest core program: one single-key program caps the whole protocol.