Beyond Yield

DIA
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Institutional capital is moving on-chain. Beyond Yield talks to the people deciding where it goes and what can break. Each week, host Dillon sits down with risk teams, vault curators, stablecoin issuers and founders who run real money in DeFi. Episodes cover how vaults get built and rated, what it takes to launch a stablecoin, how RWAs work as collateral, and why recent hacks happened. Past guests include Sentora, Block Analitica, Centrifuge and Yearn. Beyond Yield is produced by DIA, the price oracle infrastructure provider. New episodes every week.

Episodes

  1. Oct 16

    Beyond Yield Ep.12 | Nicolo Lavaroni, Block Analitica | How Sky Manages USDS Risk: Primes, Expected Shortfall and RWAs

    Nicolo Lavaroni is a risk analyst at Block Analitica, the core risk advisor for Sky, formerly MakerDAO. In this episode, he explains how Sky’s transition from Maker vaults to a Prime model with real-world assets changes the work of protecting USDS holders and managing liquidity. Nicolo breaks down the 97.5% expected shortfall benchmark, the first-loss risk capital Primes post, and how the Sky Savings Rate relates to SOFR. He also walks through the screening process for new opportunities and the requirements for launching a Prime. The conversation explores where AI helps with risk analysis, whether agents can set risk parameters, and what happens when DeFi’s open data meets the limited visibility of offchain assets. It closes with Morpho Midnight’s fixed-term loans, the outlook for USDS collateral, and Nicolo’s interest in bringing stocks onchain. CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro01:14 Nicolo’s background, Sky and Block Analitica02:12 What is Block Analitica04:06 How Sky’s collateral and risk model changed08:05 Keeping bad debt out and USDS liquid09:25 Quant models, Basel and the 97.5% expected shortfall11:59 SSR, SOFR and Primes’ first-loss risk capital13:54 Why most deals fail the screen, and how a new Prime launches16:48 Using AI in risk analysis20:16 Bots vs agents: can AI set risk parameters?22:59 Open DeFi data vs closed RWA data26:16 DeFi vs TradFi compromises and transparency29:48 Evaluating information you have to trust31:18 What backs USDS, and the three-year outlook33:16 Morpho Midnight and fixed-term loans37:12 What he is most excited about: stocks onchain RESOURCES Block Analitica: https://blockanalitica.com/Block Analitica research: https://blockanalitica.substack.com/DIA: https://www.diadata.org/DIA on X: https://x.com/DIAdata_org Beyond Yield is a podcast by DIA exploring the infrastructure, risk management and financial products connecting DeFi with institutional capital. New episodes every week. Follow Beyond Yield so you don’t miss the next conversation.

  2. Oct 16

    Beyond Yield Ep.11 | Anthony DeMartino, Sentora | Why "Institution" Is a Meaningless Word in DeFi

    Anthony DeMartino ran risk strategies at Coinbase before co-founding Trident, the capital markets advisory that merged with IntoTheBlock in April 2025 to form Sentora, backed by a $25M Series A. ` Sentora became one of the largest vault curators on Morpho and Kamino, while Anthony passed on more than twenty stablecoin mandates. In this episode, he challenges what “institutional” actually means in DeFi and explains what banks, exchanges and fintech companies want from onchain infrastructure. He attributes a series of recent hacks to failures in key management, liquidity and oracle configuration, and explains why diversification can increase risk when it means allocating to weaker protocols. Anthony also breaks down Sentora’s vault selection process, Firelight’s approach to pricing loss protection, and why launching a stablecoin requires the infrastructure and economics of a banking business. The conversation closes with managed credit, new real-world assets, and the liquidity requirements that determine whether an asset works as DeFi collateral. CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro01:28 Anthony’s path: Coinbase, Trident, Sentora05:11 What “institution” actually means08:32 The next wave: payroll yield and fintech rails09:54 What banks want from DeFi12:38 Vaults, private credit and digitized SPVs16:42 Why TradFi coordination is slow18:37 All of DeFi is already institutional20:35 Why the last ten hacks weren’t technical23:47 New money or recycled money24:59 Firelight: pricing DeFi risk26:28 Did the model survive KelpDAO?28:59 Inside Sentora’s vault process31:53 Diversification hurts you in DeFi33:37 Vault ratings and TradFi risk frameworks36:34 Launching a stablecoin means starting a bank39:35 The remittance float nobody collects41:55 Managed credit and the new RWAs45:46 RWAs as collateral47:42 Outro RESOURCES Sentora: https://sentora.com/DIA: https://www.diadata.org/DIA on X: https://x.com/DIAdata_org Beyond Yield is a podcast by DIA exploring the infrastructure, risk management and financial products connecting DeFi with institutional capital. New episodes every week. Follow Beyond Yield so you don’t miss the next conversation.

  3. Oct 16

    Beyond Yield Ep.10 | Luca, Telos Consilium | Why RWAs Didn't Remove Risk

    Tokenizing real-world assets brings credit, liquidity and operational risks into DeFi. Luca, founder of Telos Consilium, explains where onchain yield comes from, why incentives often attract temporary capital, and what investors need to understand beyond the advertised APY. Drawing on his work in treasury management and vault curation, Luca shares lessons from Telos Consilium’s due diligence on MainStreet. He examines tokenized bonds, reinsurance and leveraged strategies to explain how different sources of yield expose investors to different risks. The conversation also covers where AI helps uncover red flags, the limits of automated capital allocation, and why DeFi’s next phase depends on making financial products easier to understand and distribute. CHAPTERS 00:00 Highlights and introduction03:34 Where DeFi yield comes from07:49 Incentives and capital rotation10:31 RWAs and the risks behind tokenization22:41 Due diligence, bonds and reinsurance31:20 AI due diligence and capital allocation37:33 DeFi’s next phase and what Telos is building RESOURCES Telos Consilium: https://telosc.com/Beyond Yield episodes and transcripts: https://www.diadata.org/podcast/ Follow Beyond Yield for conversations with the builders and risk managers shaping DeFi’s infrastructure.

  4. Aug 6

    Beyond Yield Ep.9 | Merlin Egalite, Morpho | Fixed Rate Lending Is How DeFi Talks to Institutions

    Morpho Midnight brings fixed rate, intent-based lending onchain, letting a single signature carry up to 128 collaterals and a KYC callback. In this episode, co-founder Merlin Egalite breaks down why a decade of earlier fixed rate DeFi attempts stalled on orderbook liquidity, and how Midnight replaces that model with intents. Merlin Egalite co-founded Morpho as a student during the pandemic and scaled it to $2 billion in active loans in the middle of a bear market. Morpho Blue turned lending into isolated markets with an independent curation layer on top, a structure that became one of the defining models in onchain credit. As TradFi asset managers start entering the curation layer and institutions look for fixed rate terms they can actually price, Merlin puts a number on the opportunity: $200 trillion in credit, against roughly $60 billion in crypto-backed loans that exist onchain today. TOPICS COVERED: From a Student Hackathon to $2B in Active LoansWhy Fixed Rate Lending Has Failed BeforeWhat Morpho Midnight Is and How Intents Work\Portfolio Loans and KYC Callbacks in One SignatureHow Curators Adapt to Fixed Rate MarketsConfidential Vaults and Institutional PrivacyThe $200 Trillion Credit Stack ABOUT MERLIN EGALITE: Merlin Egalite is the co-founder of Morpho, one of the largest lending protocols in DeFi. He built the protocol's first version as a student during the pandemic and scaled it to $2 billion in active loans through a bear market. He led development of Morpho Blue, which separated lending into isolated markets with an independent curation layer, and now leads Morpho Midnight, the protocol's fixed rate, intent-based lending primitive. ABOUT BEYOND YIELD: Beyond Yield is a podcast series exploring the technical infrastructure powering DeFi's vault and lending economy. Each episode features protocol builders, risk managers, and ecosystem leaders breaking down the frameworks, trade-offs, and design decisions behind institutional-grade onchain capital allocation. For teams building DeFi infrastructure, evaluating vault protocols, or deploying capital onchain, Beyond Yield provides technical insight into how the ecosystem's leading platforms actually operate. RESOURCES: Morpho: https://morpho.orgMorpho on X: https://x.com/MorphoMerlin Egalite on X: https://x.com/MerlinEgaliteTry Midnight: https://markets.morpho.org/fixedDIA: https://www.diadata.org Subscribe to Beyond Yield for conversations with the builders and risk managers designing DeFi's infrastructure layer.

  5. Aug 5

    Beyond Yield Ep.8 | Martin de Rijke, Maple Finance | From $9M to $3.6B: How Maple Scaled Onchain Lending

    Maple Finance manages $3.6 billion in assets through overcollateralized lending to institutional borrowers. In this episode, Martin de Rijke breaks down how that lending actually works, why stablecoin yield adoption still lags 6 to 12 months behind the underlying stablecoin growth curve, and why he thinks the next stage of crypto adoption ends with every dollar becoming a stablecoin. Martin de Rijke leads growth at Maple Finance. He joined the team two weeks before the CeFi collapses of 2022 and helped scale the protocol from $9 million in TVL to its current size by closing deals one at a time through the bear market while competitors shut down. As institutional capital continues moving onchain in 2026, Martin explains what due diligence actually looks like when a family office sends a 100-page questionnaire, why the onchain lending market still has room to grow toward $50 billion, and how stablecoin growth is starting to decouple crypto's trajectory from the boom-bust cycles that defined it. TOPICS COVERED: Overcollateralized Lending to Institutional BorrowersStablecoin Yield and the Adoption S-CurveScaling From $9M to $3.6B During a Bear MarketHow Maple Generates Yield Under the HoodThe $50B Onchain Lending MarketInstitutional Due Diligence RequirementsWhy Stablecoins Could End Crypto's Boom-Bust Cycles ABOUT MARTIN DE RIJKE: Martin de Rijke leads growth at Maple Finance, the largest onchain asset management protocol with $3.6 billion in assets under management. He joined the team two weeks before the CeFi collapses of 2022 and helped scale Maple from $9 million in TVL through incremental, deal-by-deal growth during the bear market while competitors shut down. He works directly with institutional borrowers and lenders on the due diligence process behind overcollateralized onchain credit. ABOUT BEYOND YIELD: Beyond Yield is a podcast series exploring the technical infrastructure powering DeFi's vault and lending economy. Each episode features protocol builders, risk managers, and ecosystem leaders breaking down the frameworks, trade-offs, and design decisions behind institutional-grade onchain capital allocation. For teams building DeFi infrastructure, evaluating vault protocols, or deploying capital onchain, Beyond Yield provides technical insight into how the ecosystem's leading platforms actually operate. RESOURCES: Maple Finance: https://maple.financeMaple Finance on X: https://x.com/maplefinanceMartin de Rijke on X: https://x.com/MartindRijkeDIA: https://www.diadata.org Subscribe to Beyond Yield for conversations with the builders and risk managers designing DeFi's infrastructure layer.

  6. Jun 25

    Beyond Yield Ep. 7 | Lee McClelland, Nexus Mutual | Hacking a Protocol Is Harder Than Compromising the Dev: Why Operational Security Now Beats Smart Contract Risk

    Hacking a protocol is harder than compromising the dev behind it. Social engineering outpaces onchain exploits as the leading cause of loss in DeFi. For institutional capital to scale safely, protocols need insurance infrastructure that understands this shift. Lee McClelland leads product and risk at Nexus Mutual, the oldest onchain cover protocol in DeFi, live on Ethereum since 2019. He runs pool 22, the largest underwriting pool on the mutual, overseeing due diligence on all new protocol listings, pricing models, and risk underwriting decisions. Before joining Nexus full-time, Lee discovered DeFi in 2020 and recognized an immediate gap: insurance. Most early attempts treated cover as a simple trading problem. Nexus was different. Co-founders Hugh and Ray brought institutional insurance expertise from traditional mutuals, combined with rigorous engineering. Lee joined the DAO at the end of 2020, contributed to risk research and documentation, and eventually transitioned to head of product and risk, where he now manages the mutual's largest underwriting pool. In this episode, Lee breaks down what protocol cover actually protects against, why operational security failures have become the #1 cause of loss in DeFi, how fixed-rate and exchange-rate oracles reshape lending market risk, and why covered vaults are enabling composable insurance for institutions and retail users alike. TOPICS COVERED: → Why protocol cover is fundamentally different from traditional insurance and harder to underwrite → What operational security failures look like and why they're now the leading cause of loss, outpacing smart contract exploits → Why bridges remain the hardest DeFi risks to cover and what makes them structurally different from protocol risk → Is DeFi actually getting safer or riskier? The data since 2019, the losses, and what's changed → When the yield isn't worth the risk: how to identify when markets misprice risk and capital moves up the risk curve → Why risk can't be priced in isolation and how correlations reshape underwriting decisions → Fixed-rate vs exchange-rate oracles: how oracle type changes a lending market's risk profile and pricing → Why institutions are now the largest buyers of DeFi cover and what risks they're protecting against → How covered vaults make insurance composable and enable institutions to deploy capital safely → Bringing reinsurance yield onchain and how underwriting and NXM staking economics work ABOUT LEE McCLELLAND: Lee McClelland leads product and risk at Nexus Mutual, managing the mutual's largest underwriting pool. He runs all due diligence on new protocol listings, manages pricing models, and oversees risk curation across Nexus's $350M+ in underwriting capacity. Before joining full-time, Lee spent years in the DAO, contributing to risk research and documentation, eventually transitioning to a formal leadership role in 2021. ABOUT BEYOND YIELD: Beyond Yield is a podcast series exploring the technical infrastructure powering DeFi's vault, lending, and institutional capital markets. Each episode features protocol builders, risk managers, and ecosystem leaders breaking down the frameworks, trade-offs, and design decisions behind institutional-grade onchain capital allocation. RESOURCES: Nexus MutualDIAThe Ultimate DeFi Vault & Lending MapSubscribe to Beyond Yield for conversations with the builders and risk managers designing DeFi's infrastructure layer.

  7. Jun 9

    Beyond Yield Ep.6 | Carsten Hermann, Particula | Why Tokenized Assets Need Dynamic Onchain Risk Ratings

    Carsten Hermann co-founded Particula to solve a problem most of DeFi and traditional finance have not fully priced in: when a real-world asset gets tokenized, its risk profile changes. Traditional ratings are built to assess default risk. Tokenized assets introduce different questions: can holders still redeem the token against the underlying asset, who controls the smart contract, what happens if permissions change, and how does risk differ across networks? Particula provides independent risk ratings, analytics, and monitoring for asset-backed digital assets. The team has assessed 200+ tokenized asset issuances and built the Digital Asset Risk Passport, a dynamic, multi-chain record that brings risk ratings and metadata onchain for protocols, asset allocators, insurance markets, and AI agents to consume. In this episode, we sit down with Carsten Hermann, Co-founder and CTO of Particula, to explore why static PDF ratings break in 24/7 onchain markets, why redemption risk matters more than default risk for tokenized assets, and how real-time risk data can reshape lending, insurance, vault infrastructure, and the agentic economy. TOPICS COVERED: Tokenization Changes the Risk ProfileWhy tokenizing an asset adds a technical risk layer that traditional ratings do not capture. How smart contracts, issuer controls, legal structures, network dependencies, and offchain processes change the characteristics of the underlying asset. Redemption Risk, Not Default RiskWhy tokenized asset ratings need to focus on whether holders can still redeem the token against the underlying asset, rather than only assessing the probability of default. Onchain Meets Offchain RiskHow Particula evaluates issuer structure, legal documentation, KYC and AML flows, custody providers, fund administrators, smart contract permissions, oracle dependencies, and network-specific risk. Why Static Ratings BreakTraditional rating updates can take days or weeks. Onchain markets move 24/7. Carsten explains why dynamic ratings are needed when contracts can be upgraded, token concentration can shift, or key risk parameters can change overnight. The Digital Asset Risk PassportHow Particula brings risk ratings onchain through a dynamic, multi-chain data object connected to each tokenized asset. Why protocols and agents need machine-readable risk scores, subscores, red flags, identifiers, and historical risk data. Risk Data for DeFi Protocols and AI AgentsHow lending protocols, vaults, insurance markets, and agentic portfolio systems can use onchain risk data to calculate LTVs, interest rates, liquidation parameters, insurance premiums, and automated portfolio decisions. Why Particula Chose DIAWhy risk data cannot be reduced to a single data point, and why Particula needed a multi-dimensional oracle feed to deliver risk scores, subscores, and metadata onchain. ABOUT CARSTEN HERMANN:Carsten Hermann is the Co-founder and CTO of Particula. Before founding Particula, he worked on the tokenization of carbon credits and environmental assets, where he saw the need for independent risk ratings for tokenized assets and institutional allocators. ABOUT BEYOND YIELD:Beyond Yield is a podcast series exploring the technical infrastructure powering DeFi's vault, lending, and institutional capital markets. RESOURCES: Subscribe to Beyond Yield for conversations with the builders and risk managers designing DeFi's infrastructure layer.

  8. May 26

    Beyond Yield Ep.5 | Graham Nelson, Centrifuge | Why RWAs Are Finally Working: From 2017's Failed Thesis to 2026's Institutional Capital Flow

    RWAs flopped in 2017. They're scaling now in 2026. What changed? Centrifuge is the tokenization protocol bringing real-world assets from institutional managers like Janus Henderson, S&P Dow Jones Indices, and Apollo onchain for DeFi use. With nearly $2B in TVL across tokenized treasuries, credit products, and the first licensed tokenized S&P 500 index fund, they've built the infrastructure that finally makes institutional assets composable in DeFi. In this episode, we sit down with Graham Nelson, DeFi Product Lead at Centrifuge, to explore why institutional capital is finally flowing into tokenized assets and what needs to happen for DeFi to unlock its next wave of growth. Graham spent years in TradFi banking before entering crypto in 2016, working at a South African bank building their blockchain team when "DeFi really wasn't a thing." He moved into DeFi full-time in 2020, working at Sygnum Bank (a regulated digital asset bank) before joining Centrifuge to focus on RWA infrastructure and DeFi integrations. TOPICS COVERED: From TradFi to DeFi: The Banking PerspectiveHow working in traditional banking shaped Graham's approach to risk management, security, and compliance in DeFi. The gap between how TradFi builds financial products and how crypto builds infrastructure, and what each side still underestimates about the other. Why RWAs Are Finally WorkingThe same tokenization thesis failed in 2017. What infrastructure exists today that didn't exist then? Why institutional capital is flowing now, whether it's truly onchain capital or off-chain capital finding onchain rails, and what institutional allocators actually need from DeFi before deploying at scale. How Centrifuge Actually WorksThe full stack from asset origination to tokenization to DeFi composability. Who the main actors are (Centrifuge, asset managers like Janus Henderson and Apollo, Anemoy Capital, DeFi protocols, oracles, users), what makes an RWA DeFi-ready rather than just tokenized, and why ERC-4626 matters for making tokenized assets plug into lending protocols. The Looping Debate: Leverage in FinanceIs looping healthy capital efficiency or dangerous hidden leverage? Graham's case that the entire financial system runs on leverage, where the line sits between useful efficiency and systemic risk, and whether RWA collateral should have stricter LTV requirements or oracle constraints than crypto-native assets. Institutional Capital and DeFi ConvergenceWhat crypto actually adds to RWAs beyond putting TradFi assets onchain. How to avoid RWAs becoming just token wrappers around traditional products, what DeFi can do with tokenized assets that traditional brokerages cannot, and why fintech neobanks will start acting like bank credit teams as RWAs scale. What DeFi Needs for 10x GrowthThe two critical unlocks: proving DeFi is safe and secure, and extracting away the complexity of using crypto. How DeFi started far from traditional risk management practices and has converged over 10 years. ABOUT GRAHAM NELSON:Graham Nelson is DeFi Product Lead at Centrifuge, where he focuses on integrations with lending protocols, vault builders, and institutional infrastructure. Before Centrifuge, he worked at Sygnum Bank as a DeFi Product Manager and spent years in traditional banking building blockchain teams. He's been in crypto since 2016, witnessing the evolution from early DeFi experiments to today's institutional-grade tokenization infrastructure. ABOUT BEYOND YIELD:Beyond Yield explores the technical infrastructure powering DeFi's vault and lending economy. Each episode features protocol builders, risk managers, and ecosystem leaders breaking down the frameworks and design decisions behind institutional-grade onchain capital allocation. RESOURCES: CentrifugeDIAThe Ultimate DeFi Vault & Lending MapSubscribe to Beyond Yield for conversations with the builders designing DeFi's infrastructure layer.

  9. May 4

    Beyond Yield Ep.4 | Dan Anthony, Pendle | How Pendle Captured 50% of DeFi's Yield Trading Market

    Pendle Finance controls over 50% of DeFi's yield trading market with $1B+ TVL and zero meaningful competitors. When Element Finance and Yield Protocol shut down or pivoted, Pendle became the only protocol to successfully scale yield tokenization at institutional size. In this episode, we sat down with Dan Anthony, Head of Growth at Pendle, to break down what's happening in DeFi's yield layer. From a chaotic week of hacks (Kelp, Resolv, LayerZero) to the trillion-dollar interest rate swap market Pendle is building toward through Boros. Dan joined Pendle early after 10 years building automation systems at Schneider Electric, scaling the protocol from under $300M TVL in early 2024 to over $13B peak by September 2025. He's navigated Pendle through multiple market cycles and now builds infrastructure for institutional capital. TOPICS COVERED: Product-Market Fit JourneyThe path from early struggles to $1B+ TVL breakthrough. Why the LRT points meta in 2024 became Pendle's inflection point, and how yield tokenization went from niche experiment to institutional infrastructure. Universal Limit Orders and Infinite LiquidityHow Pendle's limit order system enables $10M+ swaps with minimal slippage — liquidity no other DeFi platform can match. Real examples: USDG by Paxos integration processing massive swaps with near-zero price impact. The Kelp Hack Post-MortemInside the validator-spoof attack that hit Kelp DAO in April 2026. This wasn't a smart contract exploit — the attacker spoofed messages on the validator network. Dan breaks down the attack vector and what it reveals about cross-chain bridge security. Boros: Bringing Interest Rate Swaps OnchainWhy Pendle launched Boros as a separate protocol targeting TradFi's trillion-dollar interest rate derivatives market. The mechanics of trading funding rates onchain, including real use cases like the -600% funding rate trade on Hyperliquid. vePendle → vPendle TransitionWhy Pendle killed the ve model and what it reveals about institutional onboarding challenges. The problem with vote-escrow tokenomics for institutional allocators and how liquid vPendle fixed access barriers. Vault Curation and Pendle as InfrastructureHow Pendle fits into the vault ecosystem explored in previous Beyond Yield episodes. PT looping strategies enabling 5-10x leverage on Morpho and Aave, and why vault builders use Pendle as foundational infrastructure. RWAs and Institutional CapitalA contrarian take on institutional capital entering DeFi. What institutional allocators actually need from DeFi infrastructure, why regulatory clarity matters, and where the market is heading as TradFi and DeFi converge. ABOUT DAN ANTHONY:Dan Anthony is Head of Growth at Pendle Finance, where he's scaled the protocol from under $300M TVL to over $1B+ while navigating multiple market cycles. Before joining Pendle, Dan spent 10 years at Schneider Electric building automation and energy systems. At Pendle, he's led partnerships with Aave, Ethena, Morpho, Venus, and coordinated deployments across 8+ blockchain networks including Solana. ABOUT BEYOND YIELD:Beyond Yield explores the technical infrastructure powering DeFi's vault and lending economy. Each episode features protocol builders, risk managers, and ecosystem leaders breaking down the frameworks and design decisions behind institutional-grade onchain capital allocation. RESOURCES: Pendle FinanceDIAThe Ultimate DeFi Vault & Lending MapSubscribe to Beyond Yield for conversations with the builders designing DeFi's infrastructure layer.

  10. Apr 16

    Beyond Yield Ep.3 | Corn, Yearn Finance | Before Hypernative or Blockaid Existed: How Yearn Built Infrastructure In-House and Survived Every Cycle

    Yearn Finance is DeFi's original vault platform with 250+ strategies deployed, 100+ vaults on Ethereum alone, and a track record spanning from $7B peak deposits in 2021 through the DeFi rates collapse of 2022. Before Hypernative or Blockaid existed, Yearn built its own alerting, reporting, and market exit stack. Today, its reallocation system runs with off-chain AI, onchain guard rails, and an in-house security team made up of real smart contract auditors. In this episode, we sit down with Corn to break down how Yearn survived when DeFi rates crashed to under 1% while US treasuries ran 5.5%, why they chose safety over hype through every cycle, and how their AI-driven reallocation system moves capital across Morpho, Aave, Fluid, and USDS with hard constraints. Before joining Yearn in late 2021, Corn spent 10 years building networks and data centers for hospitals as a technical seller at the US's largest Cisco partner. TOPICS COVERED: How Yearn Survived DeFi's ShakeoutFrom 100+ contributors burning $3M/month in 2021 to a sustainable team today. Why Yearn chose to build in-house infrastructure instead of chasing hype, and how they navigated the moment when DeFi lending rates dropped below 1% while treasuries hit 5.5%. What it took to evolve from $7B peak deposits through the shakeout. Y Academy and Building DeFi Security InfrastructureThe first audit education program in DeFi. How Yearn onboarded seasoned engineers quarterly through rigorous testing, sent them to work at other protocols, and helped build the audit industry before companies like Trail of Bits scaled. Why Yearn became the team protocols called when they were about to be exploited. The AI Reallocation SystemHow Yearn's agent system reallocates capital across Morpho, Aave, Fluid, and USDS automatically. Off-chain AI decision-making with onchain guard rails, why autonomous systems need hard safety constraints, and what it means to make decision systems legible to users. Building infrastructure before the tools existed. Asset Vetting and Risk CurationHow Yearn's in-house security team (real smart contract auditors) vets assets and monitors risk. The process of evaluating protocols, setting allocation limits, and maintaining safety through market volatility. Why risk curation cannot be outsourced when managing institutional-scale capital. RWAs and Institutional AttentionWhy institutions are finally paying attention to DeFi vault infrastructure in 2026. How Yearn integrates RWAs and tokenized assets, the shift from pure DeFi yield to hybrid strategies including USDS, and what changed to make institutional deployment possible. The future of vaults as the default yield access layer. Flex, Staking, and What's NextYearn's evolution beyond lending vaults. New products, staking infrastructure, and how the vault model continues to adapt. Why staying conservative on security while expanding product surface area requires in-house infrastructure, and where Yearn sees the vault ecosystem heading. ABOUT BEYOND YIELD:Beyond Yield is a podcast series exploring the technical infrastructure powering DeFi's vault and lending economy. Each episode features protocol builders, risk managers, and ecosystem leaders breaking down the frameworks, trade-offs, and design decisions behind institutional-grade onchain capital allocation. For teams building DeFi infrastructure, evaluating vault protocols, or deploying capital onchain, Beyond Yield provides technical insight into how the ecosystem's leading platforms actually operate. RESOURCES: Yearn FinanceDIAThe Ultimate DeFi Vault & Lending MapSubscribe to Beyond Yield for conversations with the builders and risk managers designing DeFi's infrastructure layer.

  11. Apr 2

    Beyond Yield Ep. 2 | Aya Kantorovich, Founder of Upshift | You Cannot Outsource Risk: Building Verification Infrastructure for Institutional Vaults

    Upshift manages $300M+ in multi-strategy vaults across 35 chains, backed by August, the largest DeFi prime brokerage processing $7B in monthly volume. As TradFi institutions explore vault infrastructure in 2026, Upshift has built verification-first architecture that rejects self-reported NAV and prioritizes institutional-grade transparency. In this episode, we sit down with founder Aya Kantorovich to break down why risk cannot be outsourced and what institutions actually need before deploying capital into DeFi vaults. Before founding Upshift, Aya built the sales and trading arm at FalconX, left a month before the FTX collapse, and raised Upshift's term sheet the week after. TOPICS COVERED: You Cannot Outsource Risk Why verification infrastructure must come first, the fundamental problem with self-reported NAV, and how Upshift built transparency into the foundation. The core thesis behind scaling to $300M+ across 35 chains. Risk Engine Architecture Managing 800+ assets across 35 chains and 100+ protocols. How Upshift's risk engine evaluates protocol safety, why multi-chain infrastructure requires different verification approaches, and the technical complexity of institutional-grade vault curation. Tokenized Assets and Due Diligence What should and shouldn't be tokenized, the redeemability challenge for private credit onchain, and why RWAs require first-party verification rather than aggregated data. How tokenized equities and local markets create institutional demand. Curator Vetting and NAV Transparency The difference between two-party and three-party vault relationships, why self-reported NAV is unacceptable for institutional capital, and how Upshift evaluates curators. From $46M to $7.1B in curator TVL. Institutional Requirements What GAP accounting, Deloitte/KPMG audits, and compliance frameworks are still missing from DeFi infrastructure. Why institutions need verifiable infrastructure before they deploy capital, and how crypto will meet TradFi in the middle rather than the other way around. Multi-Strategy Yield and Market Dynamics How multi-strategy vaults deliver 2% higher yields with 40% less variability, the future of multi-chain vault infrastructure, and why 2026 is the year institutions flood into vaults. UX abstraction and who becomes the distribution layer. ABOUT AYA KANTOROVICH: Aya Kantorovich is the founder of Upshift, managing $300M+ in multi-strategy vaults across 35 chains. Before founding Upshift, she built the sales and trading desk at FalconX during the ICO era and through institutional adoption cycles. She left FalconX one month before the FTX collapse and raised Upshift's term sheet the week after. Under her leadership, Upshift has built verification-first infrastructure that rejects self-reported NAV and prioritizes institutional transparency. Backed by August, the largest DeFi prime brokerage processing $7B in monthly volume, Upshift is positioned at the intersection of institutional capital and DeFi vault infrastructure. ABOUT BEYOND YIELD: Beyond Yield is a podcast series exploring the technical infrastructure powering DeFi's vault and lending economy. Each episode features protocol builders, risk managers, and ecosystem leaders breaking down the frameworks, trade-offs, and design decisions behind institutional-grade onchain capital allocation. For teams building DeFi infrastructure, evaluating vault protocols, or deploying capital onchain, Beyond Yield provides technical insight into how the ecosystem's leading platforms actually operate. RESOURCES: UpshiftDIAThe Ultimate DeFi Vault & Lending Map Subscribe to Beyond Yield for conversations with the builders and risk managers designing DeFi's infrastructure layer.

  12. Mar 26

    Beyond Yield Ep. 1 | Sébastien Derivaux, Founder of Steakhouse Financial | How Steakhouse Maintains Zero Bad Debt Across $1.7B in DeFi Vaults

    Steakhouse Financial manages $1.7 billion in DeFi vaults with zero bad debt through multiple market crashes. As the largest risk curator by market share, Steakhouse has built systematic frameworks and transparent governance that set the institutional standard for vault curation. In this episode, we sit down with founder Sébastien Derivaux to break down how institutional-grade risk management actually works in DeFi. Before founding Steakhouse, Sébastien led MakerDAO's $2.2 billion allocation into US Treasuries, establishing the framework for institutional-grade DeFi treasury management. TOPICS COVERED: Risk Assessment Methodology The three-pillar framework Steakhouse uses to evaluate vault protocols: counterparty analysis, volatility modeling, and protocol security. How the firm assesses lending protocols, collateral quality, and smart contract risks at scale. Governance & Depositor Control Why depositors need veto power over curator decisions, how kill switches work in practice, and the governance mechanisms that prevent risk curator overreach in vault platforms. Private Credit Onchain The redeemability challenge for tokenized assets, why private credit requires different risk models than public markets, and how RWA protocols integrate into DeFi lending infrastructure. Institutional Capital Requirements What traditional finance institutions require before deploying capital onchain: custody standards, regulatory clarity, and the infrastructure gaps still preventing institutional adoption at scale. Market Events & Lessons How Steakhouse maintained zero losses during the Stream Finance collapse, Elixir depeg, and other market events. The early warning signals that trigger risk mitigation and the importance of protocol monitoring. ABOUT SÉBASTIEN DERIVAUX: Sébastien Derivaux is the founder of Steakhouse Financial, the largest DeFi risk curator by market share with $1.7B in assets under curation. Before founding Steakhouse, he led MakerDAO's Real-World Asset (RWA) strategy, allocating $2.2 billion into US Treasury investments and establishing the framework for institutional-grade DeFi treasury management. Under his leadership, Steakhouse has built a systematic risk assessment framework that has maintained zero bad debt across multiple market cycles, positioning the firm as the institutional standard for vault curation in DeFi. ABOUT BEYOND YIELD: Beyond Yield is a podcast series exploring the technical infrastructure powering DeFi's vault and lending economy. Each episode features protocol builders, risk managers, and ecosystem leaders breaking down the frameworks, trade-offs, and design decisions behind institutional-grade onchain capital allocation. For teams building DeFi infrastructure, evaluating vault protocols, or deploying capital onchain, Beyond Yield provides technical insight into how the ecosystem's leading platforms actually operate. RESOURCES: DIASteakhouse FinancialThe Ultimate DeFi Vault & Lending Map Subscribe to Beyond Yield for conversations with the builders and risk managers designing DeFi's infrastructure layer.

  • 12 Episodes

About

Institutional capital is moving on-chain. Beyond Yield talks to the people deciding where it goes and what can break. Each week, host Dillon sits down with risk teams, vault curators, stablecoin issuers and founders who run real money in DeFi. Episodes cover how vaults get built and rated, what it takes to launch a stablecoin, how RWAs work as collateral, and why recent hacks happened. Past guests include Sentora, Block Analitica, Centrifuge and Yearn. Beyond Yield is produced by DIA, the price oracle infrastructure provider. New episodes every week.

Information

  • Creator
    DIA
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    12
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © DIA
  • Show Website
    Beyond Yield