Keepers

Role and responsibilities of Keepers in maintaining Parallel V3 protocol operations

What is a Keeper?

A Keeper is a whitelisted actor designated by the Parallel DAO to perform critical off-chain-to-on-chain operations that cannot be executed automatically in a trustless and non-manipulative manner. Keepers ensure the smooth functioning of several core protocol mechanisms, including yield rate updates and fee distribution.

In the Parallel V3 access control system, keepers are assigned the KEEPER_ROLE (role ID 30), with an associated KEEPER_ROLE_TIMELOCK (role ID 31).

Responsibilities

Savings Rate Updates

The yield rate paid by Savings module contracts (e.g., sUSDp) is derived from the returns generated by the protocol on its backing assets. However, this rate schedule cannot be implemented automatically in a non-manipulative way. Keepers are responsible for encoding and updating the inflation rate in the Savings module contracts.

Depending on the stablecoin and the setup, governance may follow different update schedules. The frequency of updates can vary from every week to every several months. Between two updates, depositors in Savings module contracts are guaranteed to earn a fixed rate on their assets.

Target Oracle Updates

In the Parallelizer Module, each collateral asset has a target price used to assess whether the asset is depegging and whether conservative measures (such as adjusted fees or paused operations) should be taken. Keepers are responsible for updating these target oracles to reflect accurate market conditions. This is essential for the proper functioning of the mint, burn, and redeem operations, as the system relies on the deviation between the oracle price and the target price to determine adaptive fees and depeg protection behavior.

Safety Mechanisms

To prevent any potential keeper from acting maliciously, the protocol implements several safeguards:

Maximum Rate Cap: A maximum possible rate is enforced on each Savings module. For example, the maximum rate for sUSDp has been set at 35.00%. This prevents a keeper from uncontrollably increasing the savings rate.
DAO Whitelisting: Only keepers explicitly approved by the DAO governance can perform keeper operations. This ensures accountability and transparency.
Timelock: The KEEPER_ROLE_TIMELOCK adds a delay mechanism for sensitive keeper operations, providing an additional layer of security.