Gauntlet Vaults

Gauntlet Vaults is a curated DeFi yield platform offering risk-adjusted returns across lending, restaking, and real-world-asset strategies on multiple chains (Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, Optimism, Solana). Powered by Gauntlet's quantitative risk and optimization models, the platform serves both crypto-native users and institutional capital allocators seeking managed onchain yield through non-custodial vaults.

Gauntlet Vaults generate returns through four product families, each with its own way of earning and charging fees.

1. Lending Vaults (on Morpho and Kamino) — Your deposits go into lending pools sorted by risk level:

• Prime: Very low risk of defaults, backed by high-quality, easy-to-sell collateral.
• Balanced: Low default risk, mixing high-quality and smaller collateral assets.
• Frontier: Highest potential returns, but higher default risk.

Returns come mostly from borrower interest (what lenders pay to borrow). Some vaults also earn extra rewards or points from the underlying protocols. Gauntlet charges a performance fee of 0–20% on the base interest only — not on bonus rewards or points. The vaults are constantly adjusted by Gauntlet's optimization engine to keep risk and reward on target.

2. Gauntlet USD Alpha (gtUSDa) — A stablecoin vault that runs on Aera Protocol. It moves USDC across lending markets on Base, Arbitrum, Optimism, and Ethereum Mainnet, mixing variable-rate and fixed-rate opportunities. This is built as a sustainable real-yield strategy — not a points-farming play.

3. Restaking Vaults (on Symbiotic) — You deposit collateral (such as wstETH, cbETH, wBETH, swETH, rETH, or sUSDe). The vault allocates it to a curated set of operators, who in turn allocate it to restaking networks. Returns come from network rewards and points. Some vaults carry slashing risk (loss of funds if operators misbehave); others do not.

4. Levered RWA Strategy — Uses Gauntlet's yield-optimization engine on permissionless DeFi infrastructure to increase exposure to real-world-asset collateral, generating traditional-finance-style yields on DeFi rails.

All vaults are self-custodial (you retain control of your funds). No specific TVL, APY, or rate figures are listed here, as they change with market conditions.

Gauntlet is backed by several prominent venture capital firms. The company's About page (gauntlet.xyz/about) lists its investors as: Ribbit Capital, Polychain Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Standard Crypto, and Paradigm. According to a Bloomberg article referenced on Gauntlet's "In the Press" page, Gauntlet raised a $23.8 million Series B in March 2022 at a $1 billion valuation. Earlier rounds included a Series A (led by Paradigm) and seed funding, though specific amounts and dates for earlier rounds are not detailed on the official site. The company was founded by Tarun Chitra (CEO) and John Morrow.