Part of the agreement will see Apollo strengthening onchain lending markets built on Morpho’s protocol
Apollo Global Management is expanding its footprint in digital assets through a new agreement with decentralized lending protocol Morpho. The partnership was announced by the Morpho Association, the nonprofit group that supports the DeFi platform’s development and governance.
Under the agreement, Apollo or its affiliates can purchase up to 90 million MORPHO governance tokens over the next four years. That amount represents 9% of the project’s total 1 billion token supply. The purchases may occur through open-market buys, over-the-counter deals, and other structured arrangements, subject to ownership limits and transfer restrictions.
The two sides also plan to collaborate on strengthening onchain lending markets built on Morpho’s protocol. Specific details about how Apollo will support the infrastructure were not disclosed, but the move signals growing interest from traditional asset managers in blockchain-based credit markets.
News of the deal pushed MORPHO’s price higher over the weekend, rising nearly 18% from around $1.12 to about $1.32, according to CoinGecko data. Despite the short-term jump, the token has remained down over the past year amid broader weakness in the crypto sector.
Morpho currently ranks among the largest DeFi lending platforms, with roughly $5.8 billion in total value locked, based on data from DeFi Llama. The protocol offers decentralized lending markets and curated vaults that allow users to earn yield on digital assets.
Apollo oversees close to $940 billion in assets and has steadily increased its involvement in blockchain initiatives. The firm previously partnered with Coinbase on stablecoin credit strategies and invested in tokenization infrastructure projects.
