Navigating the crypto landscape, especially for teams building on platforms like Solana and SVM, presents unique challenges that traditional web2 environments don’t encounter. From securing treasuries to managing NFTs and tokens, the intricacies of on-chain operations demand sophisticated solutions.

Squads Labs addresses these complexities with a robust platform that transforms asset management for developers and operators.

What is Squads Labs?

Source: Squads Labs website

Squads Labs is a forward-thinking crypto operations platform designed to streamline the management of developer and treasury assets. Built on the innovative Squads Protocol, Squads Labs enables teams to securely manage their digital assets using multi-signature (multisig) wallets.

The Mission and Vision of Squads Labs

Squads Labs’ vision is to simplify and enhance on-chain economic activity, fostering a future where secure, efficient, and transparent asset management is the norm.

The mission is clear: to provide user-friendly tools that empower teams to bring their visions to life without the operational hassles typically associated with crypto development.

The Use Cases of Squad Labs

Squads Labs offers versatile solutions tailored to meet the needs of various stakeholders within the blockchain ecosystem. Here are some detailed use cases highlighting how different groups can benefit from Squads Labs’ platform:

Development Teams

Squads Labs development teams benefit from streamlined asset management and enhanced security features. The platform allows for secure treasury management with multi-sig wallets, requiring multiple team members to approve transactions, thereby reducing unauthorized spending risks. Teams can deploy, upgrade, and manage smart contract programs directly, simplifying the maintenance of blockchain applications.

NFT Projects

NFT projects using Squads Labs can securely manage their collections through the platform’s Vault. The multi-sig setup protects NFTs from unauthorized access by requiring collective approval for all actions. The platform facilitates minting new NFTs and burning old ones, essential for issuing new collections and managing inventory.

Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs)

Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) benefit from Squads Labs through efficient governance and operational transparency. DAOs can securely manage their treasury with multi-sig wallets, ensuring that multiple members approve expenditures in line with decentralized governance principles. The multi-sig functionality also acts as a consensus mechanism, allowing members to approve proposals and make decisions about assets and operations collectively.

Token Projects

Token projects utilizing Squads Labs benefit from comprehensive token management and enhanced security. The platform enables the efficient management of tokens, including minting new and burning existing ones, which is crucial for projects needing dynamic control over their token supply. It also streamlines token distribution to stakeholders for fundraising or rewarding contributors. With multi-signature approvals required for all token-related transactions, the platform ensures that operations are secure and align with the project’s governance model.

Validator Management

Validator management on Squads Labs offers streamlined operations and enhanced security for teams running validators on the Solana network. The platform simplifies tasks such as setting up validators, managing staking operations, and handling rewards. By leveraging a multisig setup, critical decisions regarding validator operations are made collectively, which reduces the risk of mismanagement or unauthorized actions. This decentralized control distributes oversight across multiple team members, enhancing security and minimizing single points of failure.

Custom Use Cases

Squads Labs offers significant flexibility and customization through its custom use cases. The TX Builder feature enables teams to create custom transactions and arbitrary instructions, allowing for tailored solutions that meet specific project needs. The platform’s programmable multisig wallets support bespoke solutions for managing various on-chain assets, accommodating unique requirements.

Technology Behind Squads Labs

Squads Protocol

Squads Protocol is an open-source, immutable infrastructure designed to enhance security and transparency in on-chain asset management. Being open-source, its code is publicly accessible for review, improvement, and trust, ensuring continuous auditing by the global developer community. The protocol’s immutability means that once deployed, its smart contracts cannot be altered, providing consistent and secure behavior over time and protecting user assets from unauthorized changes.

Squads Protocol employs formal verification, a rigorous mathematical process to prove the correctness of smart contracts, minimizing vulnerabilities and enhancing security compared to traditional development methods. At its core, the protocol features a multi-sig wallet infrastructure, requiring multiple private keys to approve transactions.

User Experience Enhancements

Squads Labs significantly enhances user experience through its intuitive interface and comprehensive management tools. The platform simplifies complex command-line interactions by offering a user-friendly graphical interface, making it accessible to users with various technical skills. Streamlined workflows integrate asset management functions into cohesive processes, simplifying tasks like setting up multisig wallets and managing tokens. Each Squad features a Vault for securely storing and managing assets, including fungible tokens and NFTs, ensuring easy and secure access for authorized users.

The platform also supports program management, allowing developers to easily deploy, upgrade, and manage smart contract programs.

Security and Transparency

Squads Labs ensures both security and transparency through a multi-layered approach. Its decentralized approval system requires multiple transaction signatures, significantly mitigating the risk of unauthorized actions and enhancing overall asset management security. The platform also benefits from the formally verified Squads Protocol, which adds an extra layer of protection by ensuring smart contracts are free from critical vulnerabilities.

Transparency is further enhanced by presenting on-chain data in a human-readable format, making it easier for stakeholders to understand and verify asset management activities. Additionally, the multi-sig approval process makes all critical actions visible and requires consent from the relevant parties, fostering trust and accountability within teams.

Ecosystem Integration

Squads Labs seamlessly integrates with the Solana blockchain and its Solana Virtual Machine (SVM), leveraging Solana’s high throughput, low transaction costs, and strong developer ecosystem. By supporting SVM, Squads Labs ensures compatibility with the latest advancements in Solana’s ecosystem, offering users access to cutting-edge blockchain technology.

Products of Squads Labs

Squads Labs offers two core products: Squads and Fuse. Each addresses specific needs within the crypto ecosystem, providing comprehensive solutions to enhance efficiency, security, and usability.

Squads

Source: Squads website

Squads is a robust platform designed to enable businesses and teams to conduct their operations entirely on-chain. It addresses the multifaceted challenges faced by crypto developers and operators, ensuring a seamless and secure experience for managing core developers and treasury assets. A Squad is essentially a programmable multi-sig wallet that allows teams to collaboratively manage various digital assets.

Key Features

• Multi-Signature (Multi-sig) Wallets: Multi-sig wallets enhance security by requiring multiple approvals for transactions, which decentralizes control and mitigates the risk of unauthorized actions. This collaborative management ensures that critical assets are protected from single points of failure. Additionally, multi-sig wallets improve transparency, as every transaction and action necessitates collective approval.
• Intuitive User Interface: The platform features an intuitive user interface that simplifies asset management by transforming complex command-line interactions into user-friendly designs. This makes the platform accessible even to those with minimal technical expertise.
• Comprehensive Asset Management: Squads provides comprehensive asset management tools to effectively manage a wide range of digital assets. Each Squad includes a Vault for securely storing and managing assets like fungible tokens and NFTs. The platform offers robust program management features, allowing developers to seamlessly deploy, upgrade, and manage smart contract programs.

Use Cases of Squads

Squads are versatile in addressing various needs across different sectors. Development teams can leverage it for managing treasuries, tokens, and validators with improved security and transparency. NFT projects benefit from Squads’ secure custody and management features for their collections. DAOs use it to facilitate decentralized decision-making and governance. Token projects can utilize Squads for comprehensive lifecycle management, including minting and burning tokens.

Fuse

Source: Fuse website

Fuse is a modern wallet designed for the secure custody of digital assets. It provides individuals and businesses with a robust solution for managing their digital wealth, ensuring that their assets are held securely and can be accessed easily when needed.

Key Features

• Secure Custody: Fuse ensures secure custody of digital assets by employing multi-signature technology similar to that used in Squads. This approach requires multiple approvals for any action, significantly mitigating the risk of unauthorized access and enhancing asset security.
• User-Friendly Interface: Fuse features a user-friendly interface to streamline digital asset management. It simplifies tasks such as depositing, withdrawing, and managing assets, removing the need for complex technical procedures.
• Efficient Management: Fuse provides efficient management of digital assets by offering secure custody solutions for a diverse range of assets, including cryptocurrencies, tokens, and NFTs. This versatility caters to both individuals and businesses with varied digital portfolios.

The Use Cases Of Fuse

Fuse offers versatile use cases for various users. Individuals can manage their digital wealth securely and with ease, benefiting from the platform’s robust security and intuitive interface. Businesses can rely on Fuse to protect company assets and efficiently handle their digital portfolios. For investors, Fuse provides a reliable solution for safeguarding diverse digital assets, ensuring their secure custody and management.

How to Create a Squad on Squads Labs

Creating a Squad on Squads Labs is a swift and straightforward process, designed to get you set up in under 30 seconds. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you create your Squad:

1. Connect Your Solana Wallet: Begin by visiting the v3.squads.so platform and clicking on the “Connect Wallet” button.

2. Initiate Squad Creation: Once your wallet is connected, click on the “Create Squad” button to start the creation process.

3. Enter Squad Details: Fill in the details for your Squad such as the Squad name, a profile picture, and a description.

4. Add Squad Owners and Set Confirmation Threshold: Add the public keys of the initial owners to your Squad. Set the confirmation threshold, which is the number of approvals needed for transactions to be executed. Although you can add an unlimited number of owners, keeping the number under 20 is recommended for optimal performance. Any new owner added after the initial setup must be approved based on the configured threshold.

After adding the owners and setting the threshold, review the information and proceed by clicking “Next.”

1. Review and Confirm Squad Details: Carefully review all the details you have entered for your Squad. If everything is correct, click the “Confirm” button to proceed. The cost to deploy a Squad is approximately between 0.0025 - 0.0045 SOL, depending on the number of initial owners.

2. Access Your New Squad: After confirmation, your Squad will be created, and you will be directed to your new Squad’s interface. You can start managing your Squad’s assets, including the vault, programs, tokens, and validators.

The Fundraising Journey

Squads Labs has raised over $22 million, demonstrating strong investor confidence in its vision and technology. The company attracted investment from prominent institutional investors, including Multicoin Capital, Electric Capital, Placeholder, Collab+Currency, 6MV, and Reciprocal Ventures. These investors are known for backing innovative blockchain projects, highlighting Squads Labs’ potential.

Additionally, notable angel investors such as Julie Fredrickson, Ryan Selkis, Anatoly Yakovenko, and founders of leading crypto projects like Jito, Helium, Drift, Marginfi, and Helius have also supported the company. This mix of institutional and angel investors provides financial backing, valuable industry insights, and networks. The funds raised are strategically utilized for product development, team expansion, market reach, and research and development.

This successful fundraising journey showcases Squads Labs’ potential to drive the future of the on-chain economy, backed by robust financial support and strategic investor partnerships.

Conclusion

Squads Labs stands at the forefront of on-chain economic transformation, providing a comprehensive platform that addresses the nuanced needs of crypto teams. By leveraging the power of Squads Protocol and multisig wallets, it offers a secure, transparent, and user-friendly solution for managing digital assets. For teams building on Solana and SVM, Squads Labs is not just a tool, but a vital partner in navigating the complexities of the crypto world, ensuring that their visions are realized securely and efficiently.