Apollo Global Management (APO) is delving deeper into cryptocurrencies and has struck a deal that could make the $938 billion asset manager a major token holder on a decentralized lending platform.
The company signed a cooperation agreement with the Morpho Association, the French non-profit organization behind the Morpho protocol, allowing Apollo and its affiliates to purchase up to 90 million tokens. tokens over the next four years.
Purchases may be made through open market purchases, over-the-counter transactions and other arrangements, and are subject to ownership limits and transfer restrictions. Galaxy Digital UK acted as exclusive financial advisor to Morpho, according to the filing.
Beyond token purchases, Apollo and Morpho said they will work together to support lending markets based on Morpho’s protocol. Morpho provides infrastructure for on-chain lending markets and vaults managed by curators who allocate assets between them. The protocol is governed by the holders of the MORPHO token. Staking 90 million tokens would translate to 9% of the protocol’s total governance token supply.
The deal adds to Apollo’s growing blockchain footprint. Last year, the company made a “seven-figure” investment in a blockchain project. which focuses on incorporating traditional financial products into the chain. Apollo’s credit strategies have already been tokenized through third parties. Tokenization specialist Securitize issues ACRED, a token that provides exposure to the Apollo Diversified Credit Fund, while Anemoy offers ACRDX, which tracks Apollo’s global public and private credit strategies.
The move comes as other asset managers test decentralized financial avenues. Earlier this week, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, said it will make shares of its tokenized US Treasury fund, BUIDL, tradable on the decentralized exchange Uniswap and purchased an undisclosed amount of the UNI protocol governance token. .
