DeFi Yield Explained

59 snips

Feb 9, 2026

Sunand Raghupathi, CEO and co‑founder of Veda, a builder of yield-bearing vaults and DeFi infrastructure. He compares Kraken and Coinbase earn approaches and explains vault liquidity and redemption risk. He outlines the curator role versus traditional asset managers. The conversation covers institutional on-chain yield strategies and privacy and regulatory challenges around DeFi yield products.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Diversification Can Lower Protocol Concentration Risk

Diversifying across protocols (Aave, Morpho, Pendle, etc.) can produce higher organic yields than single‑protocol offers.
Sunand argues diversification also reduces concentration risk versus relying on one protocol.

ADVICE

Design Vaults To Match Customer Liquidity Needs

Tailor vault liquidity profiles to customer needs by choosing protocols with suitable withdrawal characteristics.
Offer product tiers (instant liquidity vs. higher yield with lockups) to manage run risk.

INSIGHT

Curators Are Transparent Asset Allocators On‑Chain

Vaults use curators (on‑chain addresses) to make allocation and risk decisions, similar to asset managers but with on‑chain transparency.
Curators' actions are publicly verifiable, reducing trust requirements versus custodial managers.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

On Ep. 69 of Tokenized, Simon Taylor, GTM @ Tempo and Cuy Sheffield, Head of Crypto @ Visa, are joined by Sunand Raghupathi, CEO & Co-Founder @ Veda to discuss Kraken and Coinbase DeFi earn products, the role of curators in DeFi vaults and more!

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction
05:07 Comparison of Kraken and Coinbase DeFi earn products and risks
07:31 Consumer redemption risk and vault liquidity management
10:50 Role of curators in DeFi vaults and risk allocation decisions
15:30 Distinction between staking and lending as different yield products
20:20 Explanation of curator role vs traditional asset manager in DeFi
24:48 CME exploring institutional tokenized collateral and 24/7 trading
30:14 Regulatory considerations for traditional institutions offering DeFi yield
34:15 Vitalik Buterin re-evaluating Ethereum's roll-up-centric roadmap and L2s

Tokenized is sponsored by Visa

A world leader in digital payments, Visa is bridging the gap between traditional financial institutions and innovative blockchain networks, helping players in the payments ecosystem navigate the ever-evolving world of tokenized fiat currencies with confidence and ease. Learn more at visa.com/crypto.

Tokenized is presented by Bridge, a Stripe company.

Just like the internet made information global, stablecoins are making money global. And Bridge, a Stripe company, is the infrastructure powering that shift. Built for speed, scale, and simplicity, Bridge helps businesses send, store, convert, and spend stablecoins instantly, all without borders or having to navigate the complexities of crypto. Learn more at bridge.xyz

Tokenized is also presented by Fireblocks

With over $100 billion in monthly stablecoin volume, Fireblocks powers stablecoin strategies at scale with infrastructure that enables PSPs, fintechs, remitters and banks to issue, move, hold, and manage stablecoins. And it’s all done securely, at scale, and with built-in compliance. Learn more at fireblocks.com

***

We’d also like to remind you that the views or opinions of our contributors today are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the companies they are representing. Nothing we say should be taken as tax, financial, investment or legal advice, do your own research!

Music by Henry McLean