Customizing vault policies

Vault policies define approval requirements for operations within a vault — like deposits, withdrawals, transfers, and policy changes. Each vault can have its own customized policy, allowing different rules for different types of assets or business purposes.

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What vault policy controls

Vault policies define approval requirements for:

• Deposits — Receiving assets into the vault
• Withdrawals — Sending assets out of the vault
• Transfers — Moving assets between vaults
• Stablecoin conversions/swaps — If enabled
• Policy changes — Modifying the policy itself
• User access — Adding or removing users from the vault
• Large transactions — May have higher approval thresholds

See Vault policies for details on policy types and quorum structures.

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Access vault policy settings

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Customization options

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Simple approval structure

Basic single or dual approval:

• Single approver — One designated approver for all vault operations
• Two required — Any two approvers must approve
• All required — Every approver must approve

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Advanced quorum structures

More complex approval rules:

• Tiered by amount — Different approvals for different transaction sizes
• Role-based — Different rules for different user roles
• Time-based — Different rules for certain times of day or days of week
• Operation-type specific — Different rules for withdrawals vs. transfers

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Risk-based rules

Adjust approvals based on risk:

• Standard operations — 1 approver needed
• Large transactions — (over $X) 2 approvers needed
• To new addresses — (not pre-approved) 2 approvers needed
• To trusted destinations — (pre-approved) 1 approver needed

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Create policy rules

See Adding rules for detailed rule creation instructions.

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Quorum structures

Different vaults can have different quorum setups: Choose a structure that matches your organization’s security needs and approval speed requirements.

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Vault policy templates

Common templates your organization may offer:

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Treasury Vault (High security)

• Withdrawals: 2 of 3 senior officers
• Transfers: 1 of 3 senior officers
• Policy changes: All 3 senior officers
• Use case: Large reserves, institutional customers

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Operations Vault (Standard security)

• Withdrawals: 1 operations manager + 1 approver
• Transfers: 1 approver
• Policy changes: 2 of 3 administrators
• Use case: Regular operations, moderate amounts

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Client Custody Vault (Flexible)

• Deposits: Any operator
• Withdrawals: Client + custodian approver
• Transfers: Client approval
• Policy changes: Custodian admin
• Use case: Client funds, specific approval controls

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Settlement Vault (Fast)

• All operations: 1 approver
• Large transfers (>$X): 2 approvers
• Policy changes: Admin
• Use case: Frequent, regular operations, trusted parties

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Transaction amount thresholds

Set approval requirements based on transaction size: Thresholds can be by USD value, crypto amount, or both.

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Adding custom approvers

Designate specific users as approvers for a vault: You can have different approvers in different vaults — for example, the CEO approves the treasury vault, but regional managers approve their respective vaults.

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Policy change requests

When you modify a vault policy:

1. Submit for approval — The policy change itself is submitted
2. Approvers review — Designated approvers review the new policy
3. Approval required — Usually requires the same quorum as the vault’s own policy (or higher)
4. Effective date — Once approved, the new policy takes effect immediately
5. Audit trail — The change is recorded with who changed it and who approved it

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Monitoring policy effectiveness

After setting policies, monitor:

1. Approval times — Are approvals happening in reasonable time? If not, adjust approvers
2. Rejection rates — Are too many operations being rejected? Review the policy
3. Bottlenecks — Is one person always the bottleneck? Consider distributed approvers
4. Compliance — Is the policy still meeting your compliance requirements?

Review policies quarterly or when business changes.

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Emergency policy changes

If you need to change a vault policy urgently:

1. Request expedited review — Explain the urgency
2. Temporary policy — Sometimes you can implement a temporary policy and convert to permanent after review
3. Escalation — Contact your administrator or Porto account team for assistance

Emergency changes still require approval but may be fast-tracked.

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Special cases and exceptions

Anchorage Digital review:

• Large or unusual operations may require Anchorage Digital compliance review
• This is an automatic additional step; not affected by vault policy
• Typically takes 1-2 business days

Unusual operations:

• Operations to new addresses, bridges, or risky assets may have higher approval requirements
• Check your policy’s rules for these scenarios

Service agreements:

• Enterprise customers may have negotiated policy terms with Anchorage
• These take precedence over default policies

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Testing your policy

Before fully relying on a new policy:

1. Make a test operation — Try a small withdrawal or transfer
2. Verify approvals — Confirm the right people are notified
3. Check timing — See how long approvals take
4. Document learnings — Note any issues to fix before next time

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Policy best practices

• Balance security and speed — More approvers = more security but slower operations
• Right-size approvers — Too few creates risk; too many creates bottlenecks
• Clear thresholds — Make amount-based rules obvious and well-documented
• Separate roles — Different people should submit and approve when possible
• Document why — Record the business reason for your policy structure
• Review regularly — Quarterly policy reviews catch issues early
• Communicate — All users should understand the policy and approval process