A curator is an independent team or entity — not part of Morpho — that designs, deploys, and manages onchain vaults (more on vaults here).

At a high level, curators design diversified portfolios packaged as user-friendly and easy-to-integrate vaults.

For Morpho Vaults specifically, these are essentially portfolios of overcollateralized lending positions. This lets users deposit in a single place, earn yield with one click, and delegate the ongoing work of risk management and portfolio construction.

The closest analogy to a vault curator in traditional finance is an asset or fund manager. Both set strategy and manage risk, but they are fundamentally and structurally different. Vault curators operate noncustodially — execution is automated and transparent through smart contracts rather than human intermediaries.

In Morpho Vaults, curators can never take control or custody of user funds. Instead, they configure a vault to implement a given strategy programmatically. Users can deposit and withdraw from a vault at will, without anyone needing to facilitate (or being able to prevent) the associated transactions, keeping full custody and ownership of their assets at all times.

Curators can be compensated via management fees and/or performance fees. The exact fee structure is set by the curator and is configurable per vault, subject to maximum caps.

Some curators opt for relatively low fees; others charge more and lean on their track record or a differentiated strategy. These choices are entirely driven by the curator — not by Morpho.

Curators can also partner with distributors (for example, fintechs or platforms) and enter into revenue-sharing agreements, splitting fees from specific deposits between the curator and the distributor.

While the curator business model resembles that of traditional asset managers, there is an important distinction: the operational costs of running vaults are meaningfully lower than running a traditional fund or asset management platform.

Vaults replace entire back offices with just a few hundred lines of open-source code, available for free. Most operations are automated, and everything is built onchain with real-time availability. No need to wait for the quarterly report. As a result, curators can often charge lower fees than their TradFi counterparts while still maintaining attractive margins.

For enterprises, evaluating a curator should feel familiar — it is similar to assessing a traditional asset manager, with an added advantage: full transparency.

Vaults are built on public blockchains, and dashboards (like this one) provide real-time, detailed information on any curator or vault.

Key dimensions to consider include:

• Track record
  • What is their history in DeFi and, where relevant, in traditional finance?
  • Have they worked with reputable enterprises, fintechs, or institutions?
  • How have their strategies performed across different market cycles, including stress periods?
  • How much capital do they currently curate across all their vaults?
  • While total deposits are not guarantees of quality, they can serve as a useful signal of market trust and product-market fit.
• Transparency and methodology
  • Do they clearly describe their curation methodology and underwriting standards?
  • Do they maintain an internal risk rating framework?
  • Have they published clear procedures for how they act when markets tighten or stress events occur?
  • How are the roles and permissions structured for each vault?
  • Do they follow strong operational security (OpSec) practices?
  • Do they offer any insurance or risk-mitigation arrangements?
• Communications
  • Before depositing into a vault, review and follow the curator’s public channels, such as their X (Twitter) account and website.
  • Do they communicate proactively — not only when yields are high, but also during periods of volatility or market stress?
  • Do they provide regular updates on vault performance, allocation changes, and risk events?
• Conflicts of interest
  • Do they clearly disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest?
  • For example, do they have financial or governance relationships with specific protocols, investors, or counterparties that might influence allocation decisions?
  • As in traditional finance, responsible institutions should be explicit about conflicts and how they are managed.

By evaluating curators along these dimensions, institutions can select partners whose strategies, risk appetite, and disclosure standards match their own requirements — while relying on the strong, immutable guarantees provided by Morpho’s underlying infrastructure.

Note: this list is non-exhaustive. While some of the points mentioned above apply to Morpho Vaults and curators on Morpho, they might not apply to other vaults and curators.