Chorus One Taps Morpho and Steakhouse to Bring More Institutional Players to DeFi Yields

The initiative could signal a broader evolution in DeFi’s yield landscape, long known for its experimental nature and volatility. Now, with the rise of compliant, non-custodial infrastructure and curated risk strategies, large investors are being offered a pathway to participate in on-chain yield opportunities without compromising on control or oversight.

Rebuilding DeFi Yield for Institutions

Chorus One Earn simplifies stablecoin yield generation while embedding guardrails more familiar to traditional finance. The product enables investors to earn returns on idle USDC through a non-custodial framework, meaning funds remain fully in the user’s control, not held by any intermediary.

Under the hood, the system is built around Morpho’s universal lending network, which powers efficient lending and borrowing markets, and Steakhouse Financial’s vault strategies, which curate exposure based on risk appetite and collateral quality.

Together, they create an earning experience that blends DeFi’s composability with the predictability and governance rigor institutional players expect.

Two Vaults, Two Philosophies

At launch, Chorus One Earn will offer two types of vaults: Steakhouse Prime USDC and Steakhouse High Yield USDC. Both allocate capital into carefully screened Morpho markets, but they differ in how they balance security and performance.

The Prime vault follows a conservative strategy, emphasizing blue-chip collateral and longer governance timelocks to ensure predictability and minimize volatility – ideal for risk-averse treasuries.

The High Yield vault, by contrast, embraces a more dynamic allocation approach. It seeks higher returns through exposure to emerging collateral types, such as tokenized private credit or structured products, while maintaining active rebalancing and transparent reporting.

For investors and DAO treasuries, these options represent a step forward in defining clear, risk-adjusted frameworks for earning yield in DeFi.

A Convergence of Strengths

Each collaborator brings a distinct piece of the institutional DeFi puzzle. Chorus One, known for operating infrastructure for over 40 proof-of-stake networks, brings its reputation for reliability, enterprise security, and a strong research backbone. Morpho, which now supports more than $12 billion in deposits, contributes its open lending architecture, the connective tissue for scalable, transparent on-chain credit markets. And Steakhouse Financial, curator of stablecoin strategies with more than $3 billion in managed assets, ensures vault construction and governance align with institutional standards.

This combination allows Chorus One Earn to serve not just as another yield aggregator, but as a risk-managed treasury tool designed for a new class of DeFi participants, from DAOs and fintechs to asset managers seeking regulated on-chain exposure.

Institutional Yield, Without Custody Tradeoffs

The push toward risk-managed, non-custodial earning products highlights a growing theme across digital finance: institutions want yield, but not counterparty risk. Unlike some centralized yield platforms that collapsed during the last cycle, Chorus One Earn keeps user assets within transparent smart contracts, allowing investors to verify exposure and performance in real time. Deposits, withdrawals, and yield data are accessible via the Chorus One interface, SDK, or API, designed for easy integration into existing treasury systems. And this structure aligns with the ongoing institutional migration toward on-chain treasury management, where transparency and programmability are prioritized over convenience.