Investing in DeFi protocols comes with higher yield opportunities than traditional finance, but also comes with greater risks, such as smart contract vulnerabilities, liquidity risk, and market volatility. These risks can be mitigated by implementing best practices like regular audits, using multi-sigs for deposit management, and building more resilient oracles for price feeds. Additionally, users can mitigate risks by doing their own research and being mindful of the risks involved before depositing large amounts into DeFi protocols.