Apollo Global Management Strikes Deal to Acquire Stake in Crypto Lending Platform Morpho

TLDR

• Apollo Global Management signed a deal to potentially acquire up to 90 million MORPHO tokens over four years, representing 9% of total supply
• The $938 billion asset manager will collaborate with Morpho to support decentralized lending markets on its protocol
• MORPHO token price jumped 17.8% following the announcement, rising from $1.12 to $1.32
• Morpho ranks as the sixth-largest DeFi protocol with $5.8 billion in total value locked
• The deal follows similar crypto moves by Apollo, including partnerships with Coinbase and investment in tokenization platform Plume

Apollo Global Management has entered into a partnership with decentralized lending platform Morpho. The deal allows the traditional finance giant to acquire governance tokens in the DeFi protocol.

The cooperation agreement was announced by the Morpho Association on Friday. The French non-profit organization operates behind the Morpho protocol.

Under the terms, Apollo or its affiliates can purchase up to 90 million MORPHO tokens. The purchases will take place over a 48-month period starting now.

The token acquisition represents 9% of Morpho’s total supply of 1 billion tokens. Apollo will buy tokens through open-market purchases, over-the-counter transactions, and other contractual arrangements.

The deal includes ownership caps and transfer restrictions. Galaxy Digital UK served as exclusive financial adviser to Morpho for the transaction.

Beyond token purchases, the two companies will work together on lending infrastructure. They plan to support onchain lending markets built on Morpho’s protocol.

Morpho provides infrastructure for decentralized lending markets. The platform also offers curator-managed vaults that allocate assets across different lending pools.

The protocol operates under governance by MORPHO token holders. Token holders vote on protocol decisions and changes.

Market Response and Platform Size

The announcement triggered a price increase for MORPHO tokens. The token rose 17.8% over the weekend following the news.

MORPHO climbed from around $1.12 on Friday to $1.32. The price reflected investor enthusiasm about the traditional finance partnership.

However, the token remains down 38% over the past year. The decline reflects broader weakness in cryptocurrency markets.

Morpho ranks as the sixth-largest DeFi protocol by total value locked. The platform holds $5.8 billion in locked assets according to DeFi Llama data.

The protocol primarily serves as a lending marketplace. Users can deposit assets to earn yield or borrow against collateral.

Apollo’s Expanding Crypto Presence

Apollo manages nearly $940 billion in assets across various investment strategies. The firm operates globally with offices in multiple countries.

This Morpho partnership marks another step in Apollo’s blockchain expansion. Last year, Apollo invested in Plume, a blockchain project focused on tokenizing real-world assets.

The investment amount reached seven figures. Plume specializes in bringing traditional financial products onto blockchain networks.

Apollo also partnered with Coinbase in 2024. The collaboration focused on developing stablecoin credit strategies for institutional clients.

Third-party platforms have already tokenized some Apollo credit products. Securitize issues ACRED, a token providing exposure to the Apollo Diversified Credit Fund.

Anemoy offers another tokenized product called ACRDX. This token tracks Apollo’s global private and public credit strategies.

The move follows similar actions by other major asset managers. BlackRock announced this week it would make its tokenized Treasury fund tradable on Uniswap and purchased governance tokens of the decentralized exchange.

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