Morpho Labs Raises $50M In Latest Funding Round Led By Ribbit Capital

Morpho Labs has secured $50 million in a new funding round led by Ribbit Capital.

According to an official announcement by Morpho Labs, the latest funding round seeks to enhance the network’s decentralization and support its mission to transform financial infrastructure into a public good.

Morpho to Enhance Decentralization

The fintech investment firm Ribbit Capital led the funding round with participation from notable investors, including a16z crypto, Coinbase Ventures, Pantera, Brevan Howard, BlockTower, Kraken Ventures, and over 40 others.

The announcement stated that Ribbit Capital’s global portfolio companies include Revolut, NuBank, Coinbase, Robinhood , Mercado Libre, Figure, and Uniswap.

Morpho launched two years ago with its primary product, Morpho Optimizer, an enhancement layer on top of Aave and Compound that improved user interest rates.

Over time, Morpho has transitioned into an independent financial infrastructure inspired by the layered protocols of the early Internet.

Morpho now features a set of purpose-built protocols layered on a shared base layer, promoting open innovation and resilience. Central to this architecture is Morpho Blue, a permissionless lending protocol that facilitates an open market for risk management and specialized products.

In just six months since its launch on Ethereum, Morpho Blue has achieved over $1.7 billion in total deposits. Its recent deployment on Base has quickly amassed $120 million in deposits in less than a month.

Crypto Startups Raise $1.9 Billion in Q1 2024

Venture capital funding for cryptocurrency and blockchain projects saw its first quarterly increase since 2021 in Q1 2024. According to data from Crunchbase, web3 startups secured nearly $1.9 billion across 346 deals in the first quarter.

This represents a 58% rise from the previous quarter, signaling a positive shift despite the overall downward trend in crypto venture capital interest. The increase offered a glimpse of optimism for the sector.

The recent uptick in funding is largely due to investors with a long-term view on web3, moving away from the hype-driven “tourist investors” of previous years.