News linked to both this project and an event.
a16z Crypto has published an article explaining the rationale behind leading the investment in Morpho. It points out that credit is a core mechanism for modern economic growth and capital allocation, and that blockchain-driven open credit networks have the potential to lower the cost of financial infrastructure, enhance market competition efficiency, and provide global users with broader financing and yield opportunities. a16z Crypto disclosed that it first engaged with the Morpho team in 2022. Since the global financial crisis, the private credit market has grown rapidly, reflecting the market’s demand for more direct and efficient financing models. Meanwhile, institutions can issue their own lending markets that share the network’s liquidity and network effects. The infrastructure in this area is expected to dismantle traditional financial intermediary systems and build a global open credit network.
DeFi lending protocol Morpho has announced the completion of a $175 million funding round, led by a16z Crypto, Paradigm, and Ribbit Capital, with participation from Apollo Funds, Circle Ventures, VanEck, and other institutions.The report states that this funding round was priced based on the average price of Morpho tokens over the past month, corresponding to a valuation of approximately $2 billion for the protocol. Morpho allows institutions to customize lending markets and risk parameters on-chain and has already attracted adoption by institutions such as Coinbase, Kraken, Anchorage Digital, and Galaxy Digital.Data shows that Morpho's current Total Value Locked (TVL) is approximately $6.6 billion. The company stated that it will continue to expand its institutional-grade DeFi lending business and strengthen competition with lending protocols like Aave. (Fortune)
Odaily reports: 3F, a vault protocol built on the decentralized lending protocol Morpho, has completed a total of $4 million in funding. The round was led by Maven 11, with participation from F-Prime, GSR, Gate Ventures, and other institutions. The company did not disclose its specific valuation.Built on top of Morpho, 3F aims to provide users with leveraged exposure to RWAs through a "one-click" operation. Users simply select their target asset and desired leverage multiple, and the protocol automatically executes the entire position-building process: purchasing the underlying asset via short-term bridge financing, depositing it as collateral on Morpho, and borrowing stablecoins to repay the financing.Essentially, this mechanism simplifies the traditional "looping" process in DeFi, which involves repeatedly buying assets, depositing them as collateral, borrowing, and reinvesting. While this process can be executed efficiently via flash loans in purely crypto-native assets, it is typically more complex and less efficient in the RWA context due to issues like settlement delays.3F is expected to officially launch in the second quarter of this year.