How to pick a DeFi pool without losing money
Step-by-step DeFi pool selection — from protocol checks to APY stability. A checklist to avoid rug pulls.
High APY in DeFi is bait. Before you put money into a pool, run it through a checklist.
1. Check the protocol
Open the project page on our DeFi landscape map. If the protocol isn't in the top-50 by TVL, that's already a risk signal.
Check:
- How long has it lived? <6 months = risk. >2 years incident-free = solid.
- Audits? Should be 2-3 from known firms (Trail of Bits, OpenZeppelin, Spearbit, ChainSecurity).
- TVL trend? Growing — fine. Crashing fast — someone is exiting first, don't be last.
2. Check the pool itself
On the YieldScope pool page, look at:
- Pool TVL: under $1M = risky. >$10M = fine.
- APY 30d mean vs current: difference <30% — stable. >100% — short-lived spike.
- Δ7d: ↑40% in a week means the pool is being pumped, drop is coming. ↓30% — peak is past.
- DeFiLlama ML outlook: "Stable / high confidence" = safe. "Down / high" = exit.
3. Check pool-specific risks
- Single asset (USDC in Aave) — safest.
- Stable-stable (USDC-USDT in Curve) — minimal IL.
- Volatile pair (ETH-USDC in Uniswap) — IL risk, model it under price scenarios.
- Wrapped assets (WBTC, weETH) — bridge risk added.
4. Calculate real yield
If APY = 12% but 8% is in protocol-token rewards, real yield depends on that token's price. Account for it.
For PoS assets (ETH, SOL), also check Real Reward Rate = APY minus network inflation.
5. Don't put it all in
Main rule: no more than 5-10% of portfolio in one pool, no more than 20% in one protocol. Diversification is the only protection against black swans.
If a protocol collapses, you lose your slice, not everything.
Stable pools from top protocols right now — on YieldScope.