> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.hyperhive.finance/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.hyperhive.finance/hyperhive-vaults/vault-mechanism.md).
# Vault Mechanism
The vault is built on the ERC-4626 standard, so the shares it issues are natively composable — recognized and callable by other protocols without any custom integration.
At its core, it’s a share-price model: yield shows up as the exchange rate climbing, not the token balance growing. The flow from user's perspective can be broken into three steps:
#### **Deposit**
depositing an asset mints a fixed number of hhTokens — hhUSDC for the USDC vault, for example. Each one represents a proportional share of the whole pool rather than a claim on a fixed amount.
#### **Holding**
the hhToken count never changes, but the value behind it does. Capital is deployed across strategies that generate ongoing yield, so each hhToken becomes redeemable for more of the underlying asset over time.
#### **Redemption**
hhTokens can be redeemed at any time for shares × current exchange rate, with no separate claim step. All yield accrued between deposit and redemption is already priced into that rate.
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