Admin key custody type
A governance & admin factor in the v1.7.0 rubric. Measured per protocol on a s cadence.
Methodology how we score#
What this measures
This factor records the categorical type of custody arrangement holding the protocol's most privileged admin role: one of EOA, multisig, multisig-plus-timelock, full DAO-plus-timelock, or immutable (no admin). The value is determined by an on-chain read of the owner, admin, or ProxyAdmin slot on every major deployed contract. The result is a single categorical label that anchors the full governance & admin section — it is the baseline posture description from which more specific factors (RD-F-027 through RD-F-047) derive their context.
Why it matters
Admin key custody type is the foundational governance signal — before assessing threshold sizes, timelock durations, or role separation, a depositor needs to know what class of mechanism holds ultimate control. The evidence base shows that every off-chain key compromise incident in the dataset was possible only because the exploited admin role was held by a custody type that could be compromised with a single key or a small coordinated set of keys. Immutable protocols cannot be upgraded by anyone and occupy a different risk category entirely; DAO-plus-timelock protocols have the highest structural resistance to unilateral action; EOA protocols have the lowest. This factor drives the display value on the protocol card and informs which sub-factors are applicable.
Green / Yellow / Red
Green is assigned when the highest-privilege admin role is held by a multisig-plus-timelock or full DAO-plus-timelock, with the timelock meeting the minimum duration threshold assessed under RD-F-032. Yellow covers a multisig without timelock or a DAO without timelock. Red is assigned when the admin role is held by a single EOA (which also triggers RD-F-027), or when no admin role can be identified from on-chain data (opacity, not immutability).
Common gray cases
This factor is grayed only when proxy architecture obscures the admin slot entirely and no published documentation identifies the governance type — an uncommon state for any protocol with material TVL.
Notable historical examples
No cross-hacked incidents currently linked in database for this factor.
Measurement what to look for#
Read the effective admin/owner/upgrader role on deployed contracts and classify as: EOA / multisig / multisig+timelock / full DAO+timelock / immutable.