A Systematization of Knowledge on DeFi Vaults: Architectures, Curation Mechanisms, and Strategy Design

Abstract: Decentralized finance (DeFi) vaults are smart-contract-based asset management systems that pool deposits, execute programmable strategies, and mint tokenized shares representing claims on underlying assets and strategy performance. As vault designs have evolved from early yield aggregators to modular, actively managed systems, a new control layer, curation, has emerged to select strategies, configure risk parameters, and coordinate operational execution, introducing principal-agent dynamics and new failure modes. This paper systematizes DeFi vault architectures and curator-mediated control planes through (i) a unified system model and formal definitions for share accounting, roles, and operational dependencies, and (ii) three complementary taxonomies covering vault exposures and objectives, curator governance and accountability mechanisms, and strategy execution patterns together with their failure modes. We further map a representative set of production protocols to the proposed dimensions. The frameworks in this work aim to support rigorous analysis and safer design of blockchain-based financial applications.