Professional DeFi Asset Managers Quadruple Capital to $4 Billion Amid Institutional Adoption

Four crypto-native firms now dominate 96% of the $4 billion professional DeFi management market, signaling a seismic shift in institutional capital allocation. Gauntlet leads with 31% market share, followed by Steakhouse Financial (27%), Re7 (23%), and MEV Capital (15.4%). These specialists employ sophisticated risk frameworks to deploy capital across DeFi protocols, with Morpho emerging as the preferred platform hosting nearly $2 billion in institutional funds.

The stablecoin sector has become a particular focus for yield generation, reflecting growing institutional comfort with on-chain strategies. Fintech companies are increasingly leveraging DeFi infrastructure while abstracting complexity from end-users—a trend accelerating mainstream adoption without sacrificing composability.

Artemis and Vaults' joint report reveals these managers actively shape protocol economics rather than passively allocating capital. Their strategies range from liquidity provisioning to MEV capture, creating a new paradigm where traditional finance risk models intersect with blockchain-native opportunities.