# General & Operational

**1. What is Stratos?**\
Stratos is an on-chain adaptive liquidity protocol on Base Network. It automatically manages your assets by switching allocation between volatile native tokens and stablecoins based on real-time market conditions. It is designed to capture upside during bull markets and preserve capital during crashes.

**2. Is Stratos a trading bot?**\
No. Stratos is a decentralized protocol, not a black-box trading bot. It operates on transparent, verifiable smart contract logic. Unlike bots that trade frequently based on technical patterns, Stratos uses broad, defensive volatility parameters to make macro-level allocation changes (Risk-On vs. Risk-Off).

**3. Do I lose custody of my funds?**\
No. Stratos is non-custodial. When you deposit, you receive a Vault Token representing your share of the pool. The underlying assets are held in the smart contract, and you can redeem your Vault Token for your share of the assets at any time. The Stratos team never has access to your private keys or the ability to withdraw your funds.

**4. Are there lock-up periods?**\
No. You can withdraw your funds at any time. However, the asset you receive upon withdrawal depends on the current state of the pool (Growth Mode = Native Asset, Protection Mode = Stablecoin).

**5. How are fees structured?**\
Stratos charges a small management fee on the total value locked (TVL) and a performance fee on the yield generated during Growth Mode. These fees are automatically deducted from the pool, so the APY you see is net of fees. Holders of the $STRT token may be eligible for fee discounts.


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.strtcoin.xyz/6-frequently-asked-questions/general-and-operational.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.