TheBlock
Morpho, the onchain lending protocol, has raised $175 million in a funding round co-led by Paradigm, a16z crypto, and Ribbit Capital to build what the company calls the "open credit network for the world." The round valued the protocol at up to $2 billion, according to Fortune, and drew additional participation from Apollo Funds, Circle Ventures, VanEck, Ledger Cathay, Variant, Wintermute Ventures, Prelude, IOSG, Hashkey, Mirana, NJJ Capital, SBI Group, and Bpifrance. It marks Morpho's fourth institutional fundraise since 2021 and one of the largest rounds in DeFi history, the Morpho Association said. The investment was structured as a token purchase, with investors buying MORPHO at its average monthly price, and MORPHO prices surged over 10% following the announcement.
Why it matters
The round's participant list is the story as much as the dollar figure: Apollo Funds, Circle Ventures, VanEck, and SBI Group are not crypto-native hedge funds, they are balance-sheet allocators whose presence signals a vote of confidence from TradFi infrastructure. Ribbit Capital's second major bet on Morpho — after leading a $50 million strategic round in 2024 — extends a multi-cycle conviction thesis rather than a one-off chase. The "open credit network" framing, echoed by both co-founder Paul Frambot and Paradigm's Frankie, positions Morpho not as a single lending market but as the plumbing underneath a permissionless credit layer that banks, asset managers, fintechs, and wallets can configure to their own risk parameters rather than rent from a black-box protocol.
Market impact
MORPHO's price reaction — a 10%+ surge on the news — is the cleanest immediate read: the token-purchase structure means fresh capital was committed at monthly VWAP, giving existing holders a tangible bid before any of the deployment lands. Morpho says the protocol has crossed $11 billion in deposits and already counts Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, Bitwise, Galaxy, and Anchorage Digital among its institutional users, which sets the baseline for what the $175M is meant to expand.
Frequently asked questions
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How much did Morpho raise and at what valuation?
Morpho raised $175 million in a round co-led by Paradigm, a16z crypto, and Ribbit Capital, valuing the protocol at up to $2 billion, per Fortune. It marks Morpho's fourth institutional fundraise since 2021 and one of the largest rounds in DeFi history.
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Who invested in Morpho's $175M round?
Paradigm, a16z crypto, and Ribbit Capital co-led, with additional participation from Apollo Funds, Circle Ventures, VanEck, Ledger Cathay, Variant, Wintermute Ventures, Prelude, IOSG, Hashkey, Mirana, NJJ Capital, SBI Group, and Bpifrance.
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How was the Morpho round structured?
The investment was structured as a token purchase, with investors buying MORPHO at its average monthly price. The exact cost varied by when each participant contributed, meaning the token-purchase mechanism set the valuation rather than a fixed per-token price.
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What does Morpho do and which institutions already use it?
Morpho is an onchain lending protocol where users create lending pools with customized risk parameters. The protocol says it has crossed $11 billion in deposits and already serves Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, Bitwise, Galaxy, and Anchorage Digital.
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How did MORPHO's price react to the raise?
MORPHO prices surged over 10% following the announcement, per The Block's price page. Because the round was structured as a token purchase at monthly VWAP, fresh capital was effectively committed before the price move, giving existing holders a tangible bid.
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