Ethereum DeFi Protocol That Just Raised $175 Million From a16z And Paradigm Has A Bold Message For Wall Street

Morpho, a decentralized lending protocol operating on Ethereum, HyperEVM, and other blockchains currently holding $6.6 billion in total value locked, has raised $175 million in a funding round led by Paradigm, Ribbit Capital, and Andreessen Horowitz’s digital assets arm a16z crypto — valuing the protocol at up to $2 billion and positioning it for an eventual public debut as its founders set their sights on bringing Wall Street’s most traditional institutions into DeFi, according to Fortune’s report published June 9.

The round also drew participation from Apollo Funds, Circle’s venture unit, and VanEck — a coalition of backers that spans crypto-native venture capital, traditional asset management, and institutional finance simultaneously. The investment was structured in cryptocurrency and priced at the token’s average monthly price, with the exact cost varying by when participants contributed, per Fortune’s reporting of co-founder Paul Frambot’s account.

The 25-Year-Old Taking On TradFi

Frambot, who is 25 years old and founded Morpho at 20 alongside three fellow French co-founders — Merlin Egalite, Julien Thomas, and Mathis Gontier Delaunay — framed the fundraise with characteristic directness in his conversation with Fortune. “I think TradFi is going to have to wear shorts,” he told the publication — a reference to the cultural gap between crypto’s hoodie-and-shorts developer community and the suit-wearing institutions he is now actively courting.

His pitch to those institutions is grounded in yield. Morpho allows any user to create their own blockchain-based lending markets with customizable risk parameters — effectively enabling anyone to build their own version of Aave, the incumbent DeFi lender that currently holds nearly $12.5 billion in TVL, per Fortune’s citing of DeFiLlama data. Morpho’s $6.6 billion positions it as the clear second-largest player in the decentralized lending space, a gap that has narrowed considerably after Aave’s significant exposure to a $290 million hack of other crypto protocols in April 2026, per Fortune.

Morpho’s existing user base signals the institutional crossover is already underway. Coinbase, Kraken, Anchorage Digital, and Galaxy Digital all use Morpho’s infrastructure, per Fortune’s reporting. Guy Wuollet, general partner at a16z crypto, described the moment to Fortune as one where traditional finance professionals may need casual Fridays while DeFi builders dress up ever so slightly — a convergence he views as the natural direction of an industry increasingly operating in lockstep with institutional capital.

Frambot himself recently attended an event at the New York Stock Exchange — and wore trousers. This development marks a pivotal moment for the nascent sector’s relationship with mainstream venture capital and traditional finance.

A $175 million raise from three of the most prominent names in both crypto, Ethereum, and conventional investing — targeting the same Wall Street institutions that have spent two years cautiously circling DeFi — is the clearest signal yet that decentralized lending is no longer a crypto-insider experiment. It is becoming infrastructure that institutional capital intends to use.

Cover image from ChatGPT, ETHUSD chart from Tradingview