Frequently Asked Questions

What is Spool?
Spool is decentralized middleware that allows anyone to create an automated, diversified, and risk-reward-optimized yield-farming strategy. 
In more comprehensible terms, Spool is a "custom vault creator". Spool allows a user to pick their favorites from a list of supported protocols and create a diversified portfolio from them based on their individual risk appetite. This vault/portfolio is accessible through a single deposit address.
After depositing, Spool will automatically recognize changing yields (and potential risks) through off-chain risk models and rebalance between the chosen protocols as needed. 
Who are Spool’s competitors?
Spool is designed under the motto:
Compete with no one, synergize with everyone. 
For Capital Aggregators such as wallets, exchanges, communities, or funds, Spool is a tool to easily build a DeFi product tailored to their audience. These capital aggregators can integrate said DeFi product into/with their own brand. Effectively making Spool "piping" for them to give their users simple-, and customized DeFi access. 
For DeFi Protocols, Spool acts as a liquidity funnel. The process starts when a protocol is chosen during the creation of a Spool. A part of every deposit into the created Spool will be routed to the protocol. This deposited amount all depends on how the chosen Risk Model judges the risk-reward ratio. DeFi protocols benefit from this process because Spool allows them to gain access to liquidity from people who may never even have visited their website, which opens up a lot of potential exposure.
For more information about use cases for DeFi Protocols, please go here:
Use Cases
What makes Spool unique?
Spool's main challenge is not competitors (due to the strategic positioning of Spool). The challenge for Spool is rather found in the evolution of the market: 
Spool lives and dies with the relevance of the protocols and chains it covers. Therefore, we have decided on a very fluid and democratic governance system that counts on many experts and community members having their "ears to the ground" and making sure we always cover the most relevant strategies.
The way Spool is governed is very close to the decentralized ethos. Furthermore Spool is committed to scaling from the current "selected DAO" into an actual DAO with real powers in the medium term.
Did Spool have a raise?
The Spool DAO was founded by a group of industry leaders that came together with the joint goal of creating Spool. These initial DAO contributors funded the DAO treasury with donations and committed to an individual list of contributions to the DAO efforts depending on their individual skillset, network, and expertise. The treasury remains 100% under DAO control, and to this day has remained untouched. There was no raise conducted involving external parties.
The Spool Protocol and associated products have so far been built directly by the builders without the usage of any funds derived from the DAO Treasury or elsewhere.
The initial DAO contributors were all granted temporary governance tokens and they do not currently hold SPOOL tokens.
An early DAO vote awarded 10% of the total token supply to the initial DAO contributors, to be unlocked after a successful product launch on mainnet and vested over 24 months according to their commitment to the success of the DAO.
What chains does Spool support?
Currently only Ethereum. We've detailed our decision as to why here:
Supported Chains
Expansion to more ecosystems is likely however and conceptualization for this has already started. Actual development and implementation is subject to a governance vote.
Why would I need Spool?
First off, to have all your money in one yield generator can be considered risky considering the fact that that particular yield generator "might" fail, therefore spreading risk across multiple protocols is a much safer approach to yield farming. 
However, the downside of spreading risk across multiple protocols is that such a stance requires active management and spending a lot of money on gas costs. Both these downsides are mitigated in Spool.
For further use cases navigate to:
Use Cases
Who are Spool's advisors?
Spool is not a regular start-up controlled by a team that has an advisory board. Spool is a DAO with many founding contributors who could be described as "executive advisors", who actively help shape and build the project. You can find a list of contributors on the website or here:
First Contributors
Anyone can join these ranks in the future and have meaningful input on the future development of Spool.
Do the Spool originators have other businesses?
Most founding contributors have one or multiple businesses that are connected to the mission of Spool in some way. This connection not only helps them to contribute to Spool from a unique perspective, it also opens up immediate use cases for Spool to be put into action and start finding use.
How do I obtain SPOOL tokens?
SPOOL Tokens can be acquired from Secondary Markets, as well as through participating in the Genesis Spools, or by staking SPOOL Tokens. There are no private sales or fundraisers. 
How do I create my own Spool?
A comprehensive explanation of how to create your own Spool can be found here:
Creating a Spool
How do I obtain voSPOOL?
voSPOOL can be obtained through staking SPOOL Tokens, a more comprehensive guide can be found here: 
Acquiring voSPOOL
How do I vote on voSPOOL based emissions?
Voting on SPOOL Token emissions to different Spools happens through the voSPOOL Economical Governance mechanism, a comprehensive guide on how to participate in this governance can be found here:
Voting on SPOOL Emissions
Is the Spool Ecosystem sustainable even without SPOOL Token Emissions?
Yes, a simple example would be: Creating a Spool (Vault) which only includes Aave. This process would allow the users of that Spool (Vault) to generate a higher APY than they would have had without Spool due to automated compounding. Using a Spool to manage your portfolio is always cheaper than managing it yourself, which solidifies an economic use case for Spool as a whole.
Why is the yield of Spool "low"?
The Spool Ecosystem as a whole relies exclusively on the yield generated by Yield Generators. Therefore, Spool does not influence the yield it offers directly. The only difference between Spool and using the protocol directly is the ability to compound your deposit without incurring additional costs, this on average generates anywhere from 5% to 20% more yield than using a protocol directly.
How are SPOOL Token Holders rewarded?
All benefits, both in terms of governance and in the economical sense, are detailed here:
For SPOOL Holders
How do I simply explain "Spool"?
In its most basic form, the Spool Ecosystem allows end-users to enjoy DeFi yields on their deposits while minimizing the risk of failure through diversification. Additional benefits are higher yield through cost-less compounding, a more straightforward user experience and curated DeFi Strategies.
Are there any buy-backs planned for SPOOL?
50% of all protocol-generated revenue is used to buy the SPOOL Token, the remaining 50% is used to create new liquidity with these newly purchased tokens. This mechanic ensures both an increase in price per SPOOL Token as well as stabilizing the higher price through adding liquidity.
What is the difference between "Claim Rewards" and "Stake Rewards"?
The "Your Claimable Rewards" section refers to the number of SPOOL Tokens accumulated through staking your SPOOL Tokens. "Claim Rewards" will claim the 100 SPOOL Tokens in the example below to your wallet, which are now free for you to spend or re-stake. The "Stake Rewards" button allows you to claim your SPOOL Token Rewards and stake them back in the SPOOL Staking Program through a single transaction, saving you gas costs.
The SPOOL Staking Rewards Page.
How will the Protocol Generated Revenue be distributed to Token Holders cross chain?
The Protocol Generated Revenue, which every SPOOL Token Holder is entitled to, will be fairly distributed, even if that requires moving this revenue cross chain.
Does a Spool (Vault) use my money in any other way than allocating to selected Strategies?
No, a given Spool allocates capital to pre-selected Strategies which were included during its creation; deposits from users will never deviate from these Strategies. Implementing this safeguard ensures users are always informed upfront about where their funds are located and why.
Can I transfer my voSPOOL Tokens?
No, voSPOOL is non-transferable.
Who can call EmergencyWithdraw?
The EmergencyWithdraw function can be called by a 3/15 multi signature wallet. The signatures on this wallet are comprised of DeFi Industry Leaders who are part of the preDAO. After calling an "EmergencyWithdraw", the funds are sent to a 10/15 multi signature wallet holding the SpoolOwner role.
What is the maximum amount of Strategies in a given Spool?
18.
How does Spool differ from Yearn?
The Spool Ecosystem allows for custom vault creation, where every vault reflects the desired portfolio of a given (set of) user(s). Spool aims to achieve a diversified generation of yield through allocating its assets over multiple protocols, whereas Yearn aims to achieve the highest APY achievable through min-maxing for Yield. Yearn also does not offer any sort of customization in the way that Spool offers the ability to customize vaults to its users. Additionally, (unlike Yearn) Spool does not charge a "Management Fee".
How frequent does DoHardWork happen?
Usually the DoHardWork function gets called every 24-48 hour window. All previous DoHardWorks can be found here:
https://etherscan.io/address/0x8d650be8c0c2f9aeb56392f439ab53f87d417cbd
etherscan.io
The DoHardWork calls on Etherscan.