SKN | Apollo Deepens Crypto Push With Morpho Token Deal, Eyes 9% Governance Stake

Key Points

• Apollo Global Management signed a cooperation agreement with Morpho that allows it to acquire up to 90 million MORPHO tokens over 48 months.

• The potential stake would represent roughly 9% of the protocol’s total token supply and deepen Apollo’s exposure to decentralized lending.

• The move follows BlackRock’s recent expansion into DeFi, underscoring growing institutional participation in onchain markets.

Apollo Global Management is expanding its footprint in decentralized finance, striking a cooperation agreement with the Morpho Association that could position the $938 billion asset manager as one of the largest token holders in an onchain lending protocol.

Under the agreement, Apollo and its affiliates may acquire up to 90 million MORPHO tokens over the next four years. The purchases can occur via open-market transactions, over-the-counter deals and other arrangements, subject to ownership caps and transfer restrictions. If fully executed, the stake would amount to approximately 9% of the protocol’s total governance token supply.

Galaxy Digital UK served as exclusive financial adviser to Morpho in the transaction.

Institutional Capital Meets Onchain Lending

Morpho is governed by holders of its MORPHO token and provides infrastructure for decentralized lending markets, including curator-managed vaults that allocate capital across various onchain pools. By acquiring a meaningful token position, Apollo would gain both economic exposure and governance influence over protocol decisions.

Beyond token purchases, Apollo and the Morpho Association said they will collaborate to support lending markets built on the protocol. The structure suggests a dual strategy: capital participation alongside ecosystem development.

For traditional asset managers, governance tokens represent more than speculative assets. They can function as strategic levers in shaping risk frameworks, collateral standards and yield mechanics within decentralized systems.

Expanding Blockchain Strategy

The Morpho agreement builds on Apollo’s broader tokenization initiatives. In 2025, the firm made a seven-figure investment in Plume, a project focused on bringing traditional financial products onchain.

Apollo’s credit strategies have already been tokenized through third-party platforms. Securitize issues ACRED, a token providing exposure to the Apollo Diversified Credit Fund, while Anemoy offers ACRDX, which tracks Apollo’s global private and public credit strategies.

These efforts reflect a broader institutional thesis: tokenization can enhance liquidity, broaden distribution and streamline settlement for traditionally illiquid credit products.

A Broader Asset Manager Shift

Apollo’s move follows a similar push from BlackRock, which recently announced that shares of its tokenized U.S. Treasury fund BUIDL would be tradable on decentralized exchange Uniswap. BlackRock also disclosed that it purchased an undisclosed amount of UNI governance tokens, signaling a willingness to engage directly with DeFi protocols.

The parallel actions suggest that major asset managers are increasingly viewing decentralized infrastructure not as a fringe experiment but as a complementary layer to traditional markets.

Strategic Implications

Apollo’s potential 9% stake in Morpho would give the firm a meaningful voice in protocol governance, potentially influencing risk parameters, incentive structures and institutional integration standards. For Morpho, the backing of a global asset manager enhances credibility and may attract additional institutional liquidity.

The key question is how traditional compliance frameworks will intersect with decentralized governance structures. Institutional participation may bring capital and legitimacy, but it also introduces expectations around transparency, risk controls and regulatory alignment.

If Apollo follows through on its full allocation, the deal could mark one of the largest direct governance commitments by a major Wall Street firm to a decentralized protocol  further blurring the line between traditional finance and crypto-native infrastructure.