Aave

Future

Morpho

USDC

Flare

<p class="is-style-lead">Apollo Global Management is moving to deepen its involvement in decentralized finance through a long-term collaboration with the Morpho Association.</p><div id="cn-block-summary-block_cf323218eb4484114064fe239aef67a2" class="cn-block-summary"><div class="cn-block-summary__nav tabs"><span class="tabs__item is-selected">Summary</span></div><div class="cn-block-summary__content"><ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Apollo Global Management will acquire up to&nbsp;90 million MORPHO tokens&nbsp;over 48 months.</li><li>The partnership follows institutional integrations with&nbsp;Bitwise, which launched a USDC yield vault, and&nbsp;Flare, which enabled XRP-linked lending.</li><li>The deal strengthens Morpho’s on-chain lending infrastructure and gives Apollo&nbsp;long-term governance influence.</li></ul></div></div><p>The partnership was announced on Feb. 13, with the Morpho Association confirming that it had signed an agreement with Apollo affiliates.</p><p>Over the next 48 months, Apollo and its related entities will have the option to <a href="https://morpho.org/blog/morpho-association-announces-cooperation-agreement-with-apollo/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">acquire</a> up to 90 million Morpho (<a href="https://crypto.news/price/morpho/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">MORPHO</a>) tokens.</p><h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="agreement-outlines-token-purchase-plan">Agreement outlines token purchase plan</h2><p>These tokens may be obtained through a mix of open-market purchases, over-the-counter transactions, and other negotiated arrangements. To promote market stability, the agreement includes ownership caps as well as specific transfer and trading restrictions.</p><p>These safeguards were built into the structure of the deal to limit sudden supply increases and reduce the likelihood of sharp price swings.</p><p>You might also like: <a href="https://crypto.news/stable-taps-morpho-as-lending-partner-to-generate-stablecoin-yield/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> Stable taps Morpho as lending partner to generate stablecoin yield </a></p><p>If the full allocation is purchased, Apollo’s holdings would represent about 9% of Morpho’s total governance token supply.. At recent prices ranging between $1.19 and $1.37 per token in mid-February, the full cap would be valued at approximately $107 million to $115 million.</p><p>Galaxy Digital UK Limited acted as the exclusive financial adviser to Morpho during the negotiations. Morpho said the cooperation will support the development of lending markets, credit infrastructure, and curator-managed vaults across its protocol.</p><h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="agreement-outlines-token-purchase-plan">Agreement outlines token purchase plan</h2><p>The Apollo deal follows several high-profile institutional partnerships that have helped Morpho strengthen its position in decentralized lending.</p><p>In late January 2026, Bitwise Asset Management <a href="https://crypto.news/bitwise-launches-first-onchain-vault-on-morpho-2026/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">introduced</a> its first on-chain vault on Morpho, offering USDC deposits with yields of up to 6%. The launch marked Bitwise’s first move into non-custodial DeFi yield strategies.</p><p>Shortly after, in early February 2026, Morpho expanded its platform by <a href="https://crypto.news/first-ever-modular-lending-for-xrp-debuts-on-flare-via-morpho-and-mystic/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">integrating</a> with the Flare blockchain. This integration made it possible for users to lend and borrow XRP-linked assets, such as FXRP. The rollout included vaults backed by FXRP, FLR, and USDT0, all accessible through the Mystic app.</p><p>Coinbase made major strides in 2025 when it integrated Morpho’s infrastructure to support its crypto-backed lending services. The integration supported over $960 million in active loans, $1.7 billion in collateral, primarily backed by Ethereum and Bitcoin, and over $450 million in USDC earning yield.&nbsp;</p><p>Morpho has been also able to reach a wider audience by offering lending, borrowing, and yield products to both individual and institutional customers through other partnerships with Bitget, Société Générale Forge, Gemini, and <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Crypto.com</a>.</p><p>Ongoing protocol improvements have enabled this expansion. Morpho Vaults 1.1, which was released in 2025, improved risk management.&nbsp;In the meantime, the development of Morpho V2 is one of the main objectives for 2026. Future iterations will include fixed-rate and fixed-term loans with decentralized risk controls.&nbsp;</p><p>Market observers see the Apollo deal as evidence of growing institutional confidence in on-chain credit markets. Partnerships such as these are becoming more common as traditional asset managers look for more direct access to blockchain-based financial infrastructure.</p><p>Read more: <a href="https://crypto.news/aave-labs-proposal-revenue-aave-dao-2026/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> Aave Labs floats new ‘Aave Will Win’ proposal that redirects 100% of revenue to Aave DAO </a></p>

Wall Street giant Apollo to acquire up to 90M MORPHO tokens in new strategic deal

Table of Contents

crypto.news

Other articles published on Feb 16, 2026

Zcash (ZEC) Faces Breakdown Retest — More Downside Ahead?

Solana Charts Flag $50-$60 Support Risk as $114.35 Target Stays in Play

USD Policy Risks: How Political Uncertainty Erodes the Dollar’s Critical Premium

Unlock Institutional Upside – Retail Access with $SLINK

Germany‘s central bank president touts stablecoin and CBDC benefits for EU

Bitcoin Price Plummets Below $68,000: Analyzing the Sudden Market Downturn

Join our free newsletter for daily crypto updates!