Sierra Protocol is announcing its collaboration with Fireblocks, the industry-leading provider of crypto security infrastructure, to power custody and safeguarding of the reserve assets backing SIERRA. Fireblocks has built an institutional-grade platform that uses Multi-Party Computation (MPC) technology to securely safeguard and move digital assets. More than 2,400 enterprises globally rely on Fireblock secure infrastructure, transacting over $10 trillion via the platform to date.

How Sierra Uses Fireblocks

Over the past seven years, Fireblocks has emerged as the industry leader for safeguarding crypto assets globally. They have built an end-to-end platform for businesses and protocols like Sierra to securely store crypto, as well as transfer funds and interact with smart contracts.

Users like Sierra rely on Fireblocks’ MPC technology, which distributes and secures private key material across multiple parties, eliminating any single point of failure through multilayer protection and automated policy controls.

The Fireblocks platform has a suite of institutional-grade security features utilized by Sierra to strengthen its security processes, including:

• Multi-factor Authentication - Each login requires a password, facial identification and two-factor authentication to access the platform

• Address Whitelisting - Every new address where assets can be sent must first be whitelisted in the Fireblocks platform, eliminating the ability to move funds to unintended addresses

• Policy Setting - Each outbound transfer from Fireblocks infrastructure is governed by a policy which determines the outbound address assets are sent from, the inbound address assets will be received, the asset and blockchain for the corresponding assets. Additionally, these policies also govern approvals and interactions with smart contracts

• Quorums - Any changes to whitelist addresses or policies must be approved by a quorum of globally-distributed users, where higher risk actions are protected with a higher threshold of quorum

Fireblocks infrastructure is embedded through every aspect of the Sierra protocol. When Authorized Participants mint SIERRA tokens, the corresponding USDC is atomically transferred to Sierra’s Issuer Vault.

According to Sierra’s Risk Framework, USDC is then deployed into eligible OpenTrade vaults backed by the corresponding yield source (i.e. RWAs, AAVE, Morpho or Wildcat). Each of these contract calls and transfers are governed by policies on the Fireblocks platform and enabled through the whitelisting process.

For redemptions, the flow of assets works in reverse, where USDC is withdrawn out of OpenTrade vaults and returned to Sierra’s Issuer Vault. Redemption requests are processed manually and once approved, USDC is sent back to the Authorized Participant and the corresponding amount of SIERRA is atomically burned. Altogether, this process ensures that the reserves backing SIERRA are safeguarded and securely transferred at every step.

“Fireblocks is one of the most recognizable brands in the crypto industry and a clear leader when it comes to safeguarding digital assets. The integration of their suite of institutional-grade security features will provide holders of SIERRA with confidence that the reserve assets are safeguarded following industry-standard best practices.” Mitchell Nicholson, Core Contributor at Sierra.

“In DeFi, protocols must leverage best-in-class security infrastructure to protect assets. We are proud to collaborate with Sierra, as they utilize Fireblocks’ institutional-grade MPC custody solution and operational infrastructure. This ensures their platform secures digital assets in motion, allowing them to build trust and scale with resilience." — Ezra Solomon, Strategy Lead, Defi at Fireblocks.