The short answerSommelier computes strategy decisions off-chain on its own Cosmos chain and relays them for on-chain execution, allowing more responsive management than gas costs would permit natively. That means a validator set can influence what your vault does — disclosed, and a materially weaker guarantee than immutable strategy code.
Best forOff-chain strategy computation with on-chain execution
Strategy disclosureweight 25%
6.5avg 8.0
Contract securityweight 25%
7.0avg 7.5
Net yieldweight 20%
6.5avg 7.4
Risk controlsweight 15%
7.0avg 7.5
Feesweight 15%
7.0avg 7.4
this service category average across 15Score = Σ mark × weight. Usable, but there are better options for most people. Methodology.
| Criterion | Mark | What we found | Source | Checked |
|---|
| Strategy disclosure | 6.5 | not sourced yet | not sourced yet | — |
| Contract security | 7.0 | not sourced yet | not sourced yet | — |
| Net yield | 6.5 | not sourced yet | not sourced yet | — |
| Risk controls | 7.0 | not sourced yet | not sourced yet | — |
| Fees | 7.0 | not sourced yet | not sourced yet | — |
What we liked, and what fell short
Liked- Strategies can react faster than fully on-chain logic allows
- Named strategy providers with published mandates
- Audited vault contracts
Fell short- Validator governance can adjust vault behaviour, which is a trust assumption
- Strategy internals are less inspectable than pure on-chain vaults
Why the marks landed where they did
On-chain strategy logic is expensive to run and slow to react. Sommelier's answer is to compute decisions on a separate chain, where computation is cheap, and relay the resulting instructions to Ethereum vaults for execution.
What the architecture enables
Strategies that rebalance on shorter timeframes, respond to market conditions and implement logic too complex to run economically on Ethereum. Named strategy providers publish mandates, and the vaults execute what the chain's validators approve.
The trust assumption
Your vault's behaviour depends on a validator set reaching consensus on what it should do. That is a governance layer between you and your funds which pure on-chain vaults do not have. Sommelier documents this and constrains what strategies can do through on-chain guardrails, but the fundamental point stands: someone can change what your capital does without your action.
Roughly 1–2% management plus 10% performance. Strategy results have been mixed, which is unsurprising — active management is difficult and most active managers underperform in any market.
Who should use it
Depositors who want actively managed strategies and accept validator governance over vault behaviour. Those who want strategy logic they can read and that cannot change should use a vault with immutable on-chain strategies.
FAQ
How does Sommelier work?+
Strategy decisions are computed on its own Cosmos chain and relayed to Ethereum vaults for execution, enabling more responsive management than on-chain logic allows economically.
Can validators change what my vault does?+
Within on-chain guardrails, yes. That governance layer is the main trust assumption and distinguishes it from vaults with fixed on-chain strategies.
What are Sommelier's fees?+
Roughly 1–2% management plus around 10% performance, varying by vault.
Have Sommelier's strategies performed well?+
Results have been mixed. Active management underperforms often, and the architecture does not change that.
