Original title: Curators Explained Original author: @MerlinEgalite Translated by: Peggy, BlockBeats
Editor's note: As DeFi shifts from high-yield driven competition to institutional and infrastructural competition, Morpho is attempting to reshape the organization of on-chain lending through the Vault and Curator mechanisms. This article introduces the role of the Curator and its non-custodial, programmatic operational logic from a platform perspective.
The following is the original text:
What is a Curator?
A Curator (策展人/管理人) is an independent team or entity that is not part of Morpho's official team—responsible for designing, deploying, and managing on-chain Vaults.
From a macro perspective, the work of the Curator is to package diversified investment portfolios into user-friendly, easily integrated Vault products.
Specifically, in Morpho Vaults, these Vaults are essentially investment portfolios composed of a set of over-collateralized lending positions. This structure allows users to: complete deposits at one entry; obtain returns with one click; and entrust ongoing risk management and portfolio construction work to Curators.
In traditional finance, the role most similar to a Vault Curator is that of an asset manager or fund manager. Both are responsible for formulating strategies and managing risks, but there are important structural differences: Vault Curators are non-custodial, executing entirely through smart contracts, fully transparent, rather than relying on human intermediaries.
In Morpho Vaults, Curators can never take over or hold user funds. What they do is execute established strategies through programmatic Vault configurations.
Users can deposit or withdraw funds freely at any time without anyone's approval, and there is no possibility of being artificially blocked; ownership and control of the assets are always in the hands of the users themselves.
The business model of the Curator
Curators can be compensated in the following ways: management fee; performance fee
The specific fee structure is set by the Curator and can be configured for different Vaults, but must adhere to the preset maximum fee caps.
Some Curators choose lower fees; others rely on their historical performance or differentiated strategies to charge higher fees. These decisions are entirely made by the Curators and are unrelated to Morpho.
Additionally, Curators can collaborate with distributors (such as fintech companies or platforms) to allocate certain fees generated by specific deposits between Curators and distributors through revenue sharing.
Although the business model of Curators is structurally similar to traditional asset managers, there is a key difference: the operating costs of Vaults are significantly lower than those of traditional funds or asset management platforms.
Vault replaces the massive backend systems in traditional asset management with a few hundred lines of free, open-source code. The vast majority of processes are automated, everything runs in real-time on-chain, eliminating the need to wait for quarterly reports.
As a result, Curators are often able to charge lower fees than traditional financial peers while maintaining considerable profit margins.
How to evaluate a Curator (non-exhaustive list)
For corporate institutions, evaluating Curators should not be unfamiliar. It is similar to evaluating traditional asset managers but has one significant advantage: complete transparency.
Vaults are built on public blockchains, and with various dashboard tools, you can view detailed data of any Curator or Vault in real-time.
Here are some key assessment dimensions:
Track Record
What professional experiences do you have in the DeFi space (and in traditional finance under similar circumstances)?
Have you collaborated with well-known enterprises, fintech companies, or institutions?
How does its strategy perform in different market cycles, especially during stress testing phases?
How much capital is currently managed across all Vaults?
Although the scale of funds itself does not guarantee quality, it is often a useful signal of market trust and product fit.
Transparency & Methodology
Is the asset allocation method and risk control standard clearly explained?
Have you established an internal risk rating system?
Have you publicly disclosed your response processes under tightened market conditions or extreme events?
How are the roles and permissions of each Vault defined?
Do you follow strict operational security (OpSec) practices?
Do you provide any form of insurance or risk mitigation mechanism?
Communication methods
Before depositing funds, attention should be paid to the Curator's public channels, such as X (Twitter) and the official website.
Do you maintain proactive communication during both high-yield periods and market turbulence?
Do you regularly update the performance of the Vault, changes in asset allocation, and risk events?
Conflicts of Interest
Do you clearly disclose any real or potential conflicts of interest?
Do you have any financial or governance relationships with certain protocols, investors, or counterparties that may influence allocation decisions?
Like traditional finance, responsible institutions should clearly explain the sources of conflicts and how they are managed.
Through the assessment of the above dimensions, institutions can choose Curators that match their needs in terms of strategy style, risk preference, and information disclosure standards, while relying on the strong and tamper-proof systemic guarantees provided by Morpho's underlying infrastructure.
Note: The above list is not exhaustive. Some content applies to Morpho Vaults and their Curators but may not apply to other platforms or Vault systems.
[Original link]
