As we enter 2025, the sector has reached a new phase of maturity. On-chain asset management is emerging as a transformative paradigm - bridging decentralised infrastructure with traditional financial standards and unlocking the full potential of idle digital capital.
The total value locked (TVL) across on-chain asset management now stands at around $35 billion in assets under management, a growing subset of the broader $156 billion DeFi landscape. This is indicative of a shift in the structure and sophistication of the space.
On-chain asset management refers to the management of digital assets, both crypto-native and tokenised real-world assets (RWAs) via blockchain-based infrastructure. Investment strategies are executed through smart contracts, and every action is recorded on a public ledger.
Unlike traditional asset management, where intermediaries and opaque reporting often obscure transparency, the on-chain model offers programmable, verifiable, and continuous accountability without sacrificing efficiency or compliance.
Following nearly a decade of innovation, DeFi has entered into a more disciplined era. The excesses of 2020–2021 gave way to a reset, and now we are seeing a more robust, risk-aware foundation.
On-chain asset managers such as Avantgarde Finance have been consolidating the core infrastructure; compliance, valuation tools, data and risk management into a complete, composable DeFi toolkit bring together the pillars that are needed for modern asset management.
And within this new framework, the curator role has emerged as the central figure. Curators aren’t just portfolio managers; they are the connective tissue between DeFi’s technical rails and the institutional standards of governance and risk oversight. Their role is to translate investment intent into transparent, secure, programmable and auditable strategies.
The on-chain asset management ecosystem comprises three interconnected components:
Curators bridge financial strategy and on-chain execution. They design, structure, and implement programmable portfolios that align capital, code, and compliance within a transparent framework.
This is infrastructure which allows for investor capital to be tokenised, managed, and administered securely and transparently. This layer supports unlimited assets and protocols, ensuring flexibility across both on-chain and off-chain opportunities. In the case of Avantgarde, we currently rely on Enzyme Onyx and Morpho to provide this layer.
Providers like Chainlink (CRE) and Octav or Pennyworks provide automated, auditable NAV updates by combining on-chain and off-chain market data. It enables independent, trusted valuations across decentralised portfolios and provides the assurance institutional allocators expect.
Together, these layers form a robust yet flexible architecture capable of bridging the composability of DeFi with the rigour institutions demand.
Despite trillions in total crypto market capitalisation, less than 0.8 % of Bitcoin currently earns yield, according to a recent Rootstock Labs report. Even worse, these non-productive assets often incur a negative drag from custody or ETF fees ranging between 10 – 50 bps. This gives an illustration of how much value is still to be unlocked in the space.
For curators, this inefficiency represents opportunity. By leveraging composable protocols and auditable smart contracts, idle assets can be deployed productively generating risk-adjusted yield without compromising transparency or self-custody.
On-chain asset management transforms digital gold into productive capital while preserving decentralisation and sovereignty - and curators are the architects making that transition possible.
Vault infrastructures such as Enzyme Onyx provide the canvas on which curators operate. They transform static holdings into liquid, programmable vaults that can express complex strategies on-chain.
Enzyme Onyx enables clients to maintain custody of their wallets while delegating administration and execution to a manager. This separation of duties preserves user sovereignty while enabling professional oversight.
Key features include:
Cross-chain functionality, supporting unlimited assets and protocols.
No asset management framework can scale without reliable valuation and data integrity. Sophisticated providers are now filling that gap.
The orchestration code behind these systems reduces the complexity of sourcing and verifying data across multiple chains, while integrating compliance and identity layers.
For curators, outsourcing these roles to professionals makes trusted delegation feasible. The convergence of on-chain transparency, automation and independent verification is redefining how risk is managed on-chain.
Vault managers and curators are now driving a convergence between DeFi and traditional finance approaches as infrastructure matures.
Where early DeFi celebrated absolute autonomy, the next phase embraces trusted delegation - combining decentralised execution with institutional oversight. This hybrid model doesn’t dilute DeFi’s ethos; it strengthens it, enabling allocators to engage confidently with programmable systems under familiar governance structures.
Agio Digital’s recent integration of Enzyme Onyx into their fund administration tech stack is an early indication of how traditional players are starting to embrace on-chain asset management.
The implications are significant:
As DeFi’s foundation strengthens, on-chain asset management will continue to expand, first as a programmable counterpart, and ultimately as the new foundation of asset management itself.
The promise of self-custody, transparency, and composability offers what no traditional structure can: verifiable performance, open access, and efficient global participation.
Ultimately, the true power of DeFi lies not in speculation, but in the intelligent curation of transparent, secure, auditable and programmable finance.
