Risk Curators · Review
ActiveYearn Curating Review 2026: Yield Vaults and Risk Curation
Yearn Curating is DefiLlama's risk-curator listing for Yearn, the long-running DeFi yield aggregator. Yearn pools deposits into vaults that chase yield across protocols, but returns are variable and carry smart-contract risk.
By the DappsAtlas editorial team · Updated
DappsAtlas score
7.5/10
Good
Our verdict on Yearn Curating
7.5/10Yearn Curating suits DeFi users who want automated, compounding yield without managing strategies by hand, and who accept smart-contract risk. Its main strength is a long track record and an active focus on risk scoring for its vaults. The main caveat is that yields are variable and sit on top of other protocols, and DefiLlama lists no audits for this entry. Read each vault's fees and risks first, and only deposit what you can afford to lose.
Score breakdown
How Yearn Curating scores
- Security
- 7.0/10
- Ease of use
- 7.5/10
- Fees
- n/a
- Features
- 7.5/10
Scores run from 0 to 10 and are based only on facts we could verify. Where information was missing we mark the score n/a rather than guess.
What is Yearn Curating?
Yearn Curating is the DefiLlama entry for Yearn's curation work, listed under Risk Curators. It tracks about $48.6 million in TVL across Ethereum, Katana, Base, Arbitrum and Hyperliquid, and has been listed since May 2025. The homepage, by contrast, shows about $205.8 million deposited in Yearn Vaults overall.
Yearn describes itself as DeFi's yield aggregator. Users deposit assets, and vaults use DeFi opportunities to aim for the best risk-adjusted yields. Public reporting trace the project to 2020, when it launched on Ethereum as an automated yield-farming protocol.
The project has a token, YFI. DefiLlama lists no audits for this entry, but the Yearn site says its contracts are audited by a variety of auditors and runs a bug bounty.
How Yearn Curating works
A Yearn vault accepts a single asset, such as USDC or ETH. The vault then allocates that deposit to strategies in other DeFi protocols, such as lending markets or liquidity pools. Gains are reinvested (compounded), so the share price of the vault rises over time.
Curation means choosing which strategies and protocols a vault uses. Yearn describes an internal risk framework, ySec / Curation scores, that is used for this. A community temp check dated June 2026 explores independent DeFi risk scoring for vaults.
Users receive vault shares and can withdraw at any time, subject to the liquidity of the underlying strategies. Yield is not guaranteed and changes with market conditions.
7 features
Key features
01
Compounding yield vaults
Vaults deposit user funds into DeFi strategies and compound the yield, aiming for the best risk-adjusted return.
02
Multiple asset vaults
The homepage lists vaults for ETH, USDS, USDC and crvUSD, so users can earn on both volatile and stable assets.
03
Multi-chain presence
The listing covers Ethereum, Katana, Base, Arbitrum and Hyperliquid, giving users several networks to choose from.
04
Risk scoring
Public reporting mentions an internal risk framework (ySec / Curation scores) and a community temp check on independent DeFi risk scoring.
05
App ecosystem
Apps built on Yearn vaults by contributors and the wider community. Listed integrations include Curve, Alchemix, Origin, Katana, Trueo, Term and Cap.
06
Audits and bug bounty
Yearn describes audits by a variety of auditors and a bug bounty program for reporting vulnerabilities.
07
YFI and veYFI governance
The YFI token, with a time-locked veYFI version, is tied to governance, yield boosts and rewards.
Pros and cons
What we like
- Long-running yield aggregator that describes itself as DeFi's most battle-tested, with a track record since 2020.
- Vaults for ETH, USDS, USDC and crvUSD, with deployment on five chains.
- Yearn describes audits by several auditors and a bug bounty program.
- Risk scoring work (ySec / Curation scores) is part of how vaults are chosen.
- Integrations with known protocols such as Curve, Alchemix, Term and Katana.
- Non-custodial design: users deposit from their own wallets.
Watch out for
- DefiLlama lists no audits for this entry, so readers must check the audit pages on the Yearn site themselves.
- Vault yields are variable and depend on third-party protocols, so returns can fall quickly.
- Smart-contract risk is layered: Yearn vaults sit on top of other DeFi protocols, each with its own bugs and exploit risk.
- The DefiLlama curating entry shows a 13.7% TVL drop over seven days, a reminder that deposits can move fast.
- Fee levels are not given publicly, so users must read each vault's page before depositing.
- Public reporting on the project are mostly old (2020-2023), so some public explainers may be out of date.
Yearn Curating fees
Fee amounts are not published publicly used for this review. Yearn vaults generally have their own fee settings, which should be shown on each vault's page in the Yearn app. Check those before you deposit.
Beyond protocol fees, users also pay network gas fees on whichever chain they use. These vary with the chain and with network congestion.
Is Yearn Curating safe?
Yearn is a DeFi protocol, so users keep custody through their own wallet but take on smart-contract risk. The homepage says contracts are audited by a variety of auditors and that a bug bounty exists. DefiLlama lists zero audits for this entry, so check the audit reports yourself.
Yield vaults depend on other protocols. A failure in any underlying strategy, a stablecoin depeg or a liquidity crunch could affect a vault. Public information here do not include details of past incidents, so review Yearn's own documentation and governance forum. Nothing in this review is financial advice.
6 steps
How to get started with Yearn Curating
- 1
Read the FAQs and risk information on the Yearn site, including what a vault is and what the risks are.
- 2
Check the audit and bug bounty pages and decide whether you are comfortable with the smart-contract risk.
- 3
Choose a chain and an asset, such as ETH, USDC, USDS or crvUSD, and open the vault list.
- 4
Review the vault's strategy, yield history, fees and any risk score before choosing one.
- 5
Connect a self-custody wallet and deposit a small amount first.
- 6
Monitor the position and withdraw when you want to exit.
Who Yearn Curating is for
Yearn suits DeFi users who hold ETH or stablecoins and want yield without picking strategies themselves. It also fits DAOs and protocols looking for a place to deposit treasury assets. It is less suited to people who cannot accept smart-contract risk or want guaranteed returns.
Yearn Curating FAQs
What is Yearn Curating?
Yearn is a DeFi yield aggregator. Users deposit crypto into vaults, and the vaults put those funds into other DeFi opportunities to earn yield. The goal is the best risk-adjusted return rather than the highest headline rate.
Which blockchains does Yearn Curating support?
DefiLlama lists Ethereum, Katana, Base, Arbitrum and Hyperliquid for this entry. Which vaults exist on each chain is shown in the Yearn app.
Does Yearn have a token?
Yes. YFI is Yearn's token. Public reporting describes veYFI, a time-locked form of YFI that gives access to governance, yield boosts and rewards, based on Curve's vote-escrow model.
Is Yearn safe?
Risks include bugs in Yearn's contracts, failures in the protocols the vaults deploy into, and falling yields. The homepage points to audits and a bug bounty, but DefiLlama lists no audits for this entry. Read the risk section of each vault before depositing.
What assets can I earn on?
The homepage shows vaults for ETH, USDS, USDC and crvUSD. Other assets may be available in the full vault list.
What are Yearn's fees?
The project does not state fee amounts. Each vault's page in the app is where its fees should be shown.
Compare
Yearn Curating alternatives
Gauntlet is a DeFi risk manager that curates non-custodial yield vaults for fintechs, exchanges, wallets and asset managers.
Steakhouse Financial curates stablecoin lending vaults on Morpho and Kamino and builds onchain credit products for fintechs, exchanges and asset managers.
KPK is a noncustodial onchain asset manager that runs curated vaults, tokenised funds and treasury mandates for DAOs, institutions and capital allocators.
Clearstar is a Swiss-founded DeFi risk research and advisory firm that also curates onchain vault strategies, with about $188 million in TVL listed on DefiLlama
Sky Money is a non-custodial app for saving, earning rewards and borrowing via the Sky Protocol, and a Morpho vault curator on Ethereum.
RockawayX is a Web3 investor, validator operator and DeFi risk curator on Morpho, offering market-neutral yield strategies mainly for institutional clients.
Same category
More Risk Curators
Block Analitica is a Singapore-based DeFi risk advisory and analytics firm, known as the risk team behind Sky (MakerDAO), for protocols and DAOs.
9Summits is an on-chain risk curator running non-custodial cbBTC, ETH, USDC and EURC vaults on Lagoon and managing vaults for client treasuries.
Api3 is a first-party oracle provider and risk curator running OEV-enabled lending markets, with a fixed 200M API3 supply and a new DAO.
Varlamore Capital is a DeFi vault curator offering risk-tiered USDC and S lending vaults on Silo Finance, for yield seekers wanting managed allocation.
Hyperithm is a Tokyo and Seoul digital asset manager running market-neutral strategies and curating on-chain vaults, aimed at institutions and wealthy investors
K3 Capital is a DeFi asset and risk manager running yield funds and curating lending vaults for crypto-native institutions and high-net-worth investors.
Same chain
More on Ethereum
Lido is a liquid staking protocol where users stake ETH and receive stETH, a reward-earning token usable across DeFi, governed by LDO holders.
Aave V3 is a non-custodial DeFi lending protocol on 21 chains where users earn interest on deposits or borrow against collateral.
Uniswap V4 is the latest Uniswap DEX version with hooks and concentrated liquidity, running on 22 chains for self-custody token swaps and liquidity provision.
Uniswap V3 is a non-custodial decentralized exchange protocol for token swaps and concentrated liquidity provision across 40+ chains.
DeFi Saver is a non-custodial tool for managing and automating leveraged lending positions across major DeFi protocols on Ethereum and layer-2 networks.
OKX is a major centralized crypto exchange for spot and derivatives trading, earn products and a Web3 wallet, with its own OKB token.
How we checked
Sources
- 1.defillama.com/protocol/yearn-curating
- 2.cryptoslate.com/yearn-finance-yfi-yields-are-plunging-is-this-a-risk-for-the-ethereum-defi-darling/
- 3.icoholder.com/en/yearn-fi-1004167
Last updated . Spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct it.