Let's talk about Morpho from the perspective of user experience (UX). Aave's experience is famously simple: choose the asset you want to deposit (like USDC), click Supply, confirm the transaction, and then you start 'lying back' to earn interest. Simple, direct, intuitive.
Then last week I went to experience Morpho. I couldn't 'deposit USDC'. I had to choose a 'USDC Vault'.
What I see are 'Steakhouse (curated) USDC Vault', 'Gauntlet (curated) USDC Vault', etc. This immediately led to my 'choice paralysis'. Which one should I choose? What are the differences between them?
Aave is like a 'savings account'. You put money in, and the bank (Aave protocol) gives you interest based on a fixed set of rules (interest rate curve).
MetaMorpho Vault is more like a 'actively managed fund'. You hand over your money to the fund manager (curator), and the fund manager (like Steakhouse) takes your USDC and 'invests' it in a series of Blue markets that he believes are safe and high-yield.
For example, the curator's strategy might be: '60% invest in WETH/USDC market, 40% invest in WBTC/USDC market'. If next week the borrowing demand in the WETH/USDC market decreases and interest rates drop, the curator may 'rebalance' and 'reallocate' funds to the rETH/USDC market.
All these actions are 'invisible' to the depositors. You don’t need to operate it yourself; the Vault will automatically complete it for you.
So, which of these two experiences is 'better'?
The good thing about Aave is its simplicity and predictability. You deposit USDC and earn interest on USDC.
The good thing about MetaMorpho is its optimization and efficiency. You deposit USDC, and the curator will help you find the 'optimal and risk-controlled' lending opportunities in the market, theoretically giving you higher 'risk-adjusted' returns than Aave.
But the downside of MetaMorpho is that it adds a 'layer of trust'. You are no longer 'trusting the Aave protocol', you are 'trusting the strategy of Steakhouse'.
My personal conclusion is that they are two products with different positioning. Aave is like 'current deposit', while MetaMorpho Vault is like 'selected FOF' (fund of funds).
For newcomers to DeFi, Aave is still the best choice. But for those with higher yield expectations and who are willing to spend time researching different 'curator' strategies, MetaMorpho's Vault model clearly offers a higher ceiling and flexibility.
@Morpho Labs 🦋 Labs 🦋