In Morpho and other vault-based protocols, this role is known as a curator or risk manager. Blend uses the term “Risk Architect” to reflect the broader scope of the role in an SMA-based model: you are not just curating a pool, you are architecting risk/return profiles across individually managed accounts.
What is a Risk Architect?
Role, responsibilities, and the value proposition.
The Three-Layer Model
How Risk Architect intent, asset metadata, and Blend infrastructure work together.
Baskets
Creating and managing investment strategy Baskets.
Onboarding
How to become a Blend Risk Architect.
What is a Risk Architect?
In Blend’s SMA-based architecture, every user has their own isolated Gnosis Safe rather than sharing a pooled vault. Risk Architects define what strategies those Safes execute. A Risk Architect:- Creates Baskets: Investment strategy templates specifying which assets to allocate to and at what percentages
- Reviews rebalance requests: When positions deviate from target allocations, Risk Architects review and approve rebalances
- Manages risk: Sets allocation weights, monitors performance, and adjusts strategy as market conditions change
- Pays per-rebalance fees: Risk Architects bear execution costs, which incentivizes thoughtful, deliberate strategy changes
Risk Architects do not have access to user funds. Each user’s capital remains in their own Gnosis Safe. Risk Architects only define the strategy template. Blend’s automation executes it within each user’s Safe.
How It Works
- Risk Architects create Baskets that define asset allocations (e.g., “10% to Pendle, 25% to Euler, 65% to money markets”)
- Neobanks select which Basket to use for each product they offer (e.g., their “Savings Account” uses the conservative USDC Basket)
- End users open accounts through the neobank’s app. Their funds go into a personal Safe and are managed according to the Basket’s strategy
The Three-Layer Model
This is the most important concept to understand as a Risk Architect. Blend separates strategy configuration into three distinct layers:Layer 1: Risk Architect Intent
What you control. You provide asset addresses, chain IDs, and target allocation percentages via the admin portal.You just specify where capital should go and how much. No code, no deployment scripts.
Layer 2: Asset Registry (@blend/assets)
Community-maintained. Asset metadata (name, category, price feeds, yield sources) lives in a public GitHub repository. New assets are added via pull request, similar to how DeFi Llama operates.You do not manage this layer directly, but you can submit PRs to add new assets to the registry.
Layer 3: Blend Infrastructure
What Blend manages. Blend deploys Vault V2 wrappers that group and manage the assets you selected. Blend decides how to group assets for gas efficiency (e.g., multiple money markets in one Vault V2, individual Pendle PTs in separate Vault V2s).You never touch this layer. Blend handles all deployment and infrastructure decisions.
This separation means Risk Architects focus purely on investment decisions: which assets and what allocations. Blend handles everything else: infrastructure, deployment, execution, and asset metadata.
Key Entities
| Entity | Description |
|---|---|
| Risk Architect | An organization of investment experts (equivalent to a curator/risk manager in Morpho). Has members with roles (Owner, Admin, Member). |
| Basket | A strategy template created by a Risk Architect. Contains asset allocations and maps to Vault V2 deployments on-chain. One Basket per asset class per Risk Architect. |
| Rebalance Request | Created when positions deviate from target allocations. Risk Architects review, approve, and trigger execution. |
What Risk Architects Do NOT Control
Understanding what Risk Architects do not manage is equally important:- User funds: Each user’s Safe is non-custodial. Risk Architects cannot access, move, or withdraw user funds.
- Asset metadata: Names, price feeds, and yield source details come from the
@blend/assetsregistry, not the Risk Architect. - Vault V2 infrastructure: Blend deploys and manages all on-chain vault contracts.
- Execution: Blend’s automation engine handles the actual rebalancing transactions after Risk Architect approval.