S&P Global Brings AAA-Style Risk Scores to DeFi’s $10B Lending Market

S&P Global Ratings has launched a AAA-style risk framework for crypto lending vaults as deposits in on-chain lending products hit a record $10 billion. The market has grown nearly sevenfold from $1.5 billion in the last two years.

Meanwhile, the new framework aims to help investors better compare risks across these growing lending products.

S&P Global Brings Risk Assessment to DeFi

S&P Global launched its new Vault Risk Assessment (VRA) on 5 October 2026 to help investors understand the risk of losing money in digital asset lending vaults.

The VRA gives each vault a score based on its risk level. AAA(v) is the highest score and means the vault has the lowest risk of losing money. Lower scores indicate higher risk. 

S&P said digital asset vaults can work like managed fixed-income funds. Their strategies can either run automatically through smart contracts or be managed by human curators.

President of S&P Global Ratings Yann Le Pallec said independent risk assessments are becoming more important as digital assets gain wider use in traditional finance.

“As digital assets continue to institutionalize, the demand for independent risk assessments that bridge traditional finance and decentralized innovation is paramount.”

Six Risks Will Decide the VRA Score

To calculate the score, S&P looks at six key areas including portfolio credit quality, liquidity mismatch, curator risk, blockchain risk, protocol risk, and vault security and governance.

These factors are combined to assign a letter-based score. AAA(v) represents the lowest relative risk of an investor losing money, while lower scores indicate higher risk.

S&P said it will publish individual Vault Risk Assessments in future announcements.

James Wiemken, executive managing director and head of Global Ratings Service, said that “The VRA fills this critical gap,” referring to the complex DeFi market and differences in how projects disclose information.

Crypto Lending Vaults Grow Nearly 7x

The new framework comes as the market has expanded sharply. Deposits in on-chain lending vaults have climbed from $1.5 billion in September 2024 to $10 billion, representing nearly seven times growth in two years.

These vaults, including products built using protocols such as Morpho and Euler, allow users to pool capital into automated lending strategies.