Vault Curators Drive a New Phase of Expansion Across the DeFi Ecosystem

TL;DR:

• Accelerated Growth: Risk curators have driven the total value locked in Morpho to exceed $6.9 billion in January.
• Steakhouse Leadership: The firm Steakhouse Financial dominates the sector with more than $1.8 billion under management across its vaults.
• Technical Evolution: The market is transitioning from passive fund distribution toward active and professional financial risk management.

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The decentralized finance sector is undergoing a period of institutional maturity thanks to the role of specialized managers. Currently, vault curators are the primary drivers of the DeFi ecosystem expansion, taking responsibility for optimizing both yield and security.

Vault curators emerge as a new DeFi business category

Vault curators have emerged as a distinct layer in DeFi, with Steakhouse Financial alone managing ~$1.8b in deposits on Morpho.

Curators allocate capital across multiple lending markets, handling strategy design, and ongoing… pic.twitter.com/vaa4oA4H0K

— Token Terminal 📊 (@tokenterminal) January 16, 2026

For instance, Morpho capitalized on this trend, attracting billions in fresh capital during the early days of 2026. This phenomenon is driven by users seeking to delegate asset management to experts with controlled risk profiles.

Thanks to this professionalization, the total value deposited in these smart contracts showed a robust recovery following the challenges of 2025. Data from Token Terminal confirms that deposits in major projects have recently doubled.

Steakhouse and Morpho V2: Engines of the New On-Chain Liquidity

In this context, Steakhouse Financial has established itself as the undisputed benchmark for the sector, managing massive liquidity primarily in USDC. Its success has enabled a DeFi ecosystem expansion toward users of traditional platforms, including Coinbase.

On the other hand, the arrival of Morpho V2 promises to revolutionize lending through the integration of off-chain agreements and personalized terms. This flexibility is essential for curators to adjust collateral and interest rates according to market needs.

Furthermore, firms like Gauntlet and MEV Capital continue to expand their influence, competing to offer the best passive yield strategies. This dynamism ensures that liquidity remains available for both lenders and borrowers.

In summary, on-chain lending is expected to continue climbing throughout the rest of the year, led by innovation from Aave and Morpho. The DeFi ecosystem expansion now appears to be in the hands of these risk curators, who guarantee the long-term viability of the system.