Haciyev Reşit 
Institutional interest in the cryptocurrency market continues to accelerate, and one of Wall Street’s largest asset managers, Apollo Global Management, is preparing a notable altcoin move. Managing over $900 billion in assets, Apollo has signed a significant agreement to purchase Morpho (MORPHO) tokens in order to support DeFi lending infrastructure. This development is seen as another step highlighting the accelerating integration between traditional finance and decentralized finance (DeFi).
Strategic Partnership Between Apollo and Morpho
Apollo Global Management has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Morpho Association, the French non-profit organization behind the Morpho protocol. Under the agreement, Apollo and its affiliates will have the right to purchase up to 90 million MORPHO tokens over the next 48 months. Token acquisitions may be executed through open market transactions, over-the-counter (OTC) deals, and other financial arrangements. The purchases will be subject to certain ownership limits and transfer restrictions. According to the agreement, Galaxy Digital UK acted as Morpho’s exclusive financial advisor during the process. If the full purchase plan is completed, Apollo could own approximately 9% of Morpho’s total governance token supply, positioning the firm as a significant institutional stakeholder within the protocol.
Growing Institutional Support for DeFi Lending Markets
The agreement goes beyond token purchases and also includes support for on-chain lending markets developed on the Morpho protocol. Morpho is known as a DeFi protocol that provides infrastructure for on-chain credit markets and asset allocation through curator-managed vaults. Apollo and Morpho aim to accelerate the growth of decentralized lending markets and increase institutional access to blockchain-based financial products. This move underscores the growing interest of traditional financial institutions in the DeFi sector.
In a joint statement, Apollo and Morpho noted that the agreement was signed to support DeFi credit markets and expand the institutional use of on-chain financial infrastructure. Apollo’s move comes at a time when major asset managers are increasingly entering the DeFi and tokenization space. The world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, recently made its tokenized U.S. Treasury fund BUIDL tradable on Uniswap and conducted purchases of the UNI token. Apollo has previously invested in blockchain and tokenization initiatives, and some of its credit strategies are already represented on-chain through tokenized financial products. This latest agreement with Morpho could further strengthen the firm’s footprint in the crypto and DeFi ecosystem.
Evaluation
The agreement allowing Apollo Global Management to purchase up to 90 million MORPHO tokens highlights the growing interest of institutional capital in the DeFi ecosystem. As traditional financial giants increasingly turn toward decentralized lending markets, this could support both the expansion of DeFi infrastructure and the acceleration of institutional adoption. This development indicates that infrastructure-focused altcoin projects like Morpho may attract even greater institutional attention in the coming period.
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