ETH vaults lagged staking while dollar strategies beat Treasuries, Glassnode finds

ETH vaults in Glassnode’s September comparison trailed staking even as the balance in its wider vault sample rose about 15% to $10 billion. Curators managing dollar-denominated vault strategies beat Treasuries for a third consecutive month, according to the research firm’s October 30 performance review.Vaults pool deposits into yield strategies overseen by curators, or managers. The split puts a practical question ahead of the advertised yield: what could the depositor have earned while keeping the asset they already wanted to own? For an ETH holder, earning more tokens through a managed strategy is useful only in relation to alternatives such as staking. A dollar saver faces a different comparison.Glassnode’s balance figure, its highest since November 2025, describes the vaults represented in its data. It does not establish whole-market growth or isolate how much came from new deposits, changing asset values or changes in coverage. A growing pool of assets and a strategy that beats its benchmark are separate findings.The benchmark depends on the asset you holdA depositor who intends to retain ETH exposure is choosing how to put that holding to work. Comparing an ETH vault with sta...