When Wall Street Dabbles in Crypto: Apollo’s Curious Adventure

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Finance

What to know:

  • Apollo Global Management, like a curious cat, has struck a cooperation agreement to support lending markets built on Morpho’s on-chain protocol. What’s next, a blockchain for cat videos?
  • The deal allows Apollo to acquire up to 90 million MORPHO tokens over 48 months. That’s a lot of tokens; they must be planning a birthday party!
  • The move follows BlackRock’s push into decentralized finance earlier this week, listing its tokenized fund and buying tokens of decentralized exchange Uniswap. Because why not add some chaos to the financial system?

Apollo Global Management (APO), with a wallet bulging at the seams-$938 billion, to be exact-is diving headfirst into the crypto pool, hoping it won’t be a shallow end.

The firm has graciously signed a cooperation agreement with the Morpho Association, a French non-profit that seems intent on making lending as complex as a French pastry recipe. This deal permits Apollo and its affiliates to buy up to 90 million tokens over the next four years, because who wouldn’t want to own a piece of a digital pie?

These purchases may transpire through open-market buys, over-the-counter transactions, and perhaps even a friendly game of poker. Naturally, there are ownership caps and transfer restrictions-like having a bouncer at the door of a nightclub.

Beyond token purchases, Apollo and Morpho have pledged to join forces, uniting in an epic quest to support lending markets built upon Morpho’s protocol. Morpho provides the infrastructure for on-chain lending markets and curator-managed vaults-because traditional vaults just don’t have enough flair these days. The protocol is governed by holders of the MORPHO token, which adds an air of democratic governance to what might otherwise seem like a high-stakes game of Monopoly.

This agreement further solidifies Apollo’s growing blockchain footprint, which is beginning to resemble a toddler’s crayon drawing. Last year, the firm made a “seven-figure” investment in a blockchain project aimed at bringing traditional financial products on-chain. As if we needed more ways to complicate finances! Apollo’s credit strategies have already been tokenized by third parties, leading to the creation of ACRED-a token giving exposure to the Apollo Diversified Credit Fund. Meanwhile, Anemoy offers ACRDX, which tracks Apollo’s global private and public credit strategies. It’s like watching a financial buffet unfold.

As other asset managers cautiously dip their toes into decentralized finance, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, announced its intention to make shares of its tokenized U.S. Treasury fund, BUIDL, tradable on decentralized exchange Uniswap. They also purchased an undisclosed amount of the governance token UNI, possibly while wearing blindfolds to heighten the thrill.

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2026-02-16 00:12