Blockchain-based lending protocol Morpho said it raised $175 million in a funding round co-led by Paradigm, a16z crypto and Ribbit Capital, as investors bet that credit markets will increasingly move on-chain.
The round also included Apollo Funds, Circle Ventures, VanEck and Ledger Cathay, according to a post on the Morpho blog.
Morpho operates an open lending network that allows institutions and fintech companies to create lending products on the blockchain. The protocol has over $11 billion in deposits and is used by institutional clients including Bitwise, Galaxy and Anchorage Digital, as well as crypto exchanges Coinbase, Kraken and Binance.
This increase highlights interest in blockchain-based financial infrastructure from banks, asset managers and other traditional financial firms exploring tokenized assets and on-chain settlement systems.
Unlike many crypto projects that seek to replace traditional finance, Morpho positions itself as an infrastructure provider working with existing institutions. The company said its network can help unify fragmented lending markets and support programmable credit products at scale.
Morpho said it would use the funds to expand its institutional lending infrastructure to create programmable credit products.
