> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.everstrike.xyz/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# On-Chain Settlement, Custody, and Gas Fees on Everstrike

> Understand how Everstrike holds your funds in smart contracts, the four fund categories and their lifecycle, and which operations require you to pay gas.

Your funds never leave Everstrike's smart contracts while you trade. The contracts hold your assets on-chain and organize them into categories based on what each pool of funds can do. Moving funds between categories — depositing, staking, minting evUSD, or opening a position — is the core of how Everstrike's on-chain custody model works.

## Fund Categories

Every balance you hold on Everstrike belongs to one of four categories. The category determines what you can do with it.

| Category        | Available Use                                                        |
| --------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Free funds      | Trading and redemptions.                                             |
| Locked funds    | Margin for open positions and orders.                                |
| Staked funds    | Minting evUSD, Everstrike's internal stablecoin.                     |
| Deposited funds | Withdrawals and staking. Deposited funds cannot mint evUSD directly. |

## Fund Lifecycle

Funds flow through the categories in a predictable path. Understanding this lifecycle helps you plan deposits, positions, and withdrawals.

Deposited funds can be **withdrawn** back to your wallet or **staked**. Once staked, funds can be used to **mint evUSD** — the stablecoin used to margin and settle all positions on Everstrike. When you open an order or position, the required margin moves from your free evUSD balance into **locked funds**. Locked funds are released back to free when the order is cancelled or the position is closed.

For a step-by-step walkthrough of depositing, staking, and withdrawing, see the [account operations guide](/account/how-to-deposit-withdraw-and-stake-on-everstrike).

## Gas Fees

Some operations execute on-chain and require you to pay network gas fees. Others are handled by Everstrike on your behalf.

| Operation        | Gas Payer  |
| ---------------- | ---------- |
| Deposit          | You        |
| Stake            | You        |
| Withdraw         | You        |
| Mint evUSD       | Everstrike |
| Redeem / Unstake | Everstrike |

<Note>
  Keep a small amount of the native gas token (ETH on Arbitrum One, Base, and Ethereum; BNB on Binance Smart Chain) in your wallet before you deposit, stake, or withdraw. Without gas funds, these transactions will fail.
</Note>