Settlement
A fill is not a payout. Matching, the venue ledger, on-chain settlement, and withdrawal are four different events. Same idea as trade date vs clearing vs settlement vs cash out.
Matching (layer 1) does not wait on Solana. Withdrawal (layer 4) is authorized against checkpointed internal custody state and released by the program-controlled collateral vault.
Four layers of finality
| Layer | What it means | What you may believe | What is not true yet |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Execution | The fill is real. Positions and buying power update. | “I traded.” | SPL has not moved. You cannot take that PnL off-venue yet. |
| 2. Internal custody ledger | The fill and resulting position, PnL, and collateral state are committed in GoDark's internal custody ledger. | “The venue has the trade.” | Solana has not necessarily received a checkpoint for the new ledger height. |
| 3. Checkpoint settlement | A sealed ledger height is anchored to the checkpoint program and verified on Solana. | “This ledger period is checkpointed on-chain.” | The checkpoint is compact; it is not a public per-user trade or balance record. A withdrawal may still be awaiting release. |
| 4. Withdrawal | An authorized withdrawal is checked against accepted checkpoint and custody state; the vault releases USDC. | “I can take funds.” | A request that has not passed those checks is not an available balance or a silent credit. |
Fills do not move SPL. Tokens move at deposit and withdraw. See Collateral Vault and Deposit Funds.
After a fill
You see the trade immediately (layers 1–2). The public chain sees compact checkpoint commitments and vault transactions (layer 3–4), not a per-user fill tape or a readable copy of the internal custody ledger.