Yield vault
An automated strategy that compounds yield on your behalf. Non-custodial; strategy and contract risk.
DeFi lending
Supply the asset to an on-chain money market and earn borrower interest. Non-custodial; smart-contract risk.
Tokenized fund
A token representing shares of an off-chain fund (Treasury bills, credit or other real-world assets). The yield is the fund's return; issuer, redemption and investor-eligibility limits apply.
Backstop / insurance
Stake to cover a protocol's losses (bad debt or insurance claims) in return for a premium. Your deposit is first in line to be cut when a loss occurs, and withdrawals usually wait out a cooldown.
Private credit
Lend to institutional borrowers whose loans are underwritten and enforced off-chain, not by an on-chain liquidation. The yield is their interest; the main risk is borrower default.
Liquidity pool
Provide liquidity to a pool and earn fees plus incentives. Impermanent-loss risk on volatile pairs.
Synthetic dollar
A synthetic-dollar or basis strategy: yield comes from perpetual-funding and staking, not lending. Funding-rate, negative-carry and de-peg risk.
CeFi earn
A custodial earn account at a centralized platform. Convenient; counterparty and custody risk.
Restaking
Restake staked assets to secure extra services for additional rewards. Added slashing and contract risk.