Running a Liquidator or Integration with Exchanges

For those building integrations:

• Liquidator Bot: A straightforward integration for developers is writing a script or service that monitors Helios for liquidation opportunities. This involves:

  • Monitoring state updates (via a websocket or polling an API for any loan hitting liquidation status).

  • When found, constructing the Bitcoin transaction to execute the liquidation via MIDL. This transaction likely sends the repay amount to the vault and has an output that sends the collateral (minus fees) to the liquidator.

  • The bot needs to decide fee levels.

  • Potentially integrate with an exchange to immediately sell seized collateral if needed to manage exposure.

• Exchange/Custody Integration: Exchanges or custodians might integrate Helios to offer services like “earn interest on your BTC” or “get a loan against your BTC” to their users. They can do this by:

  • Joining Helios validator node operation (to be closely connected and possibly earn fees from validation or at least to have direct access. More information to be publish later).

  • Using their internal ledger to manage user positions while executing aggregated Helios transactions on-chain. For example, an exchange could pool many users’ BTC and deposit a lump into Helios, then distribute interest proportional internally. (Though this reintroduces some custodial risk, it could be a stepping stone for user convenience.)

  • Or, simply acting as an agent: when a user in exchange UI says “deposit to Helios”, the exchange creates the Helios transaction on behalf of the user (the user’s BTC in their account gets moved into the Helios vault and a loan credited).

  • Custodians could integrate by making Helios an option in their dashboard, so clients can initiate a Helios loan from their cold storage directly. The custodian company's system would then handle crafting the txn, signing with the client’s key and the company's key.