# Storage Pools

OpenYield has three Storage Pools (REQ-014). Each is a layer of custody
responsibility, and none of them is a custodial position — the protocol holds
the canonical state that records who owns what; the Holder, the Stand, and
the mesh treasury each hold their own pool.

| Pool | Level | Held by | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Stash** | Holder | a single Holder | the personal storage pool; the unit of self-service |
| **Vault** | Stand | a Stand (a governed group) | the Stand-level pool; the unit of shared ownership |
| **Root-Pool** | Mesh | the mesh treasury | the canonical treasury; the unit of the public good |

## The Stash

The Stash is the Holder-level storage pool. A Holder needs only a Reach (an
identity) and a Stash to begin. The Stash is the unit of self-service: the
Holder owns it, controls it, and can delegate a scoped, time-limited,
revocable Window to a partner or a service without giving up custody. See
[Watchers & Mirror](watchers-mirror.md) for the attestation layer that
records Stash state.

## The Vault

The Vault is the Stand-level storage pool. A Stand is a governed group
(one of the nine Stand types: Household, Crew, Entity, Co-op, Circle,
Trust, Foundation, Confederation, Shadow) that holds a Vault in common. The
Stand's decision policy (threshold or weighted, mirroring the Cosmos SDK
`x/group` shape) governs how the Vault is used. See the Freeholders section
for Stands & Guilds.

## The Root-Pool

The Root-Pool is the mesh treasury. It holds the canonical state of the
Bread unit, the Watcher bonds, and the Root Basket. The Root-Pool is the
unit of the public good: the Watchers attest to its state daily, and the
Mirror mirrors it to the bearers so a Holder can verify the mesh's real
return without trusting a single custodian.

## Custody, not custody

The three pools are storage layers, not custodial positions. The protocol
does not custody user value; it holds the canonical state that records who
owns what. A Holder's Stash is theirs; a Stand's Vault is the Stand's; the
Root-Pool is the mesh's. The Window primitive lets a Holder delegate a
capability without delegating custody. See the [Lexicon](lexicon.md) for
why the docs say "Stash", "Vault", and "Root-Pool" rather than the words a
legacy financial institution would use.