The measured universe
The survey behind the Ketju terminal tracked 498 protocols at build time. Every protocol carries a versioned research record describing its economic claim, control path, loss path, exit, and review conditions.
The point is explanation, not yield-ranking or automatic exclusion. A displayed rate is an observed outcome; it cannot establish quality, client eligibility, selection, or amount.
Where firm-shelf decisions stand
The registry holds 498 protocol research records. Research assessment, firm shelf, model-client eligibility, and advisor selection are separate; every memo is dated and scheduled for re-review.
| Status | Protocols | Disclosure |
|---|---|---|
| Firm shelf: eligible | 15 | Research and shelf reasoning published in the Ketju Register |
| Firm shelf: research only | 217 | Evidence remains public; no product-quality inference from access or capacity |
| Firm shelf: excluded by policy | 397 | Policy exclusion is identified separately from the research assessment |
What the refusals cluster around
| Exposure | Rejected | Start with |
|---|---|---|
| other | 74 | Ketju research: Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) |
| stable lending | 16 | Ketju research: Maple Finance |
| staking | 11 | Ketju research: Jito (jitoSOL) |
| ETH staking | 7 | Ketju research: Kelp DAO (rsETH) |
| tokenized RWA | 6 | Ketju research: Centrifuge (JAAA) |
| liquidity provision | 2 | Ketju research: Convex Finance |
| synthetic yield | 2 | Ketju research: USD.AI (sUSDai) |
| tokenized commodity | 2 | Ketju research: Tether Gold (XAUT) |
Each linked memo states the reason and the observable events that would reopen the file. The full set is in the research files.
The finding of the quarter: access, not quality
The most consistent result came from tokenized Treasuries. The five products in the 2026-08-01 comparative review, BUIDL, USYC, OUSG, USTB, and VBILL, are gated to qualified purchasers, with minimums running from $100k to $5M. For a mass-affluent client base each is excluded by client eligibility before quality is even reached: an advisor cannot recommend what a client is not permitted to buy. Each file records its reassessment condition in writing. Four of the five point at the same event, a share class below the qualified-purchaser bar; USYC adds a second, because holding USDC and USYC concentrates a single counterparty. That result is specific to those five products, not the category as a whole. A later OpenEden TBILL review found a US Accredited Investor route, but left the research unresolved pending client and account eligibility, the $100,000 first-subscription minimum, KYC/KYT, whitelisting, custody, tax and operational redemption clearance. The tokenized Treasuries guide carries the product-by-product table.
What the review keeps finding
- Yield labels collapse borrower interest, token incentives, staking issuance, Treasury income, and private-credit spread into one percentage.
- Protocol-level descriptions omit asset issuer and chain control.
- TVL is repeatedly presented where an advisor needs withdrawable liquidity.
- Tokenized exposure is marketed as an asset class even when tokenization only changes the operating wrapper.
- Regulatory headlines rarely answer the exact custody, eligibility, authority, and communication questions of an implemented account.
The advisor implication
Build the evidence before the client decision. Record every party that can change the position, the research assessment, firm-shelf decision, actual household and account eligibility, advisor rationale, client-specific limits, observable review conditions, and review cycle. The companion DeFi due-diligence checklist makes that record explicit.
Method note
Counts are generated from the versioned Ketju registry and the live protocol survey at build time; coverage percentages are computed against tracked TVL at the same timestamp. Market data can change after publication. The report will be superseded rather than silently rewritten when the next quarter is published.