Lately, I've been looking at the APY of yield aggregators again. When the number gets high, I also get tempted, but then I calm down and think: this thing isn't "falling from the sky." Behind it is a series of contract layers, along with routing, lending pools, market-making positions, and in some places, it's actually a gamble on the counterparty not messing up. To put it simply, APY shows the result, but the risk is hidden in the process: who holds the permissions, how the emergency switch is set, whether the source of income relies on subsidies, whether liquidation and slippage can withstand shocks... ignoring these is like closing your eyes and chasing after high returns.

A couple of days ago, the NFT royalty war also looked quite similar. Everyone was arguing about whether "they should collect" or not, but what really affects creators' income are often secondary liquidity and platform rules. No matter how well the terms are written, there's always a fear of the counterparty flipping out.

I also previously followed a certain aggregator because its data interface looked very attractive, but after checking the contract permissions and fund flows, it felt more and more uncomfortable... so I unfollowed. Not that I think it definitely has problems, but I can't handle that feeling of "finding out which layer you're on only after something goes wrong." Now I prefer a lower APY, at least knowing what the money is doing.