Morpho launches Midnight fixed-rate lending on Base

Morpho has launched Morpho Midnight, a new protocol that brings fixed-rate, fixed-term lending to onchain credit markets.

The rollout begins on Base, Coinbase's blockchain network.

Morpho Midnight is intended to address a gap in decentralised lending, where most loans still carry variable rates and no set maturity. The protocol lets lenders and borrowers agree terms directly, including rate, duration and counterparty, instead of relying on automated pricing formulas.

That moves onchain lending closer to traditional credit markets, where fixed pricing and defined repayment periods are widely used to manage exposure and funding needs. Participants can also set collateral terms and compliance conditions at the market level.

The product sits alongside Morpho Blue, Morpho's existing variable-rate lending protocol. That means financial firms and other businesses already using the network can offer both fixed-rate and variable-rate products without building separate lending systems.

The launch comes as Morpho expands its position in digital asset credit infrastructure. The network reports more than USD $11 billion in deposits and counts Coinbase, Bitwise and Société Générale among firms building services on its platform.

Recent developments have also raised Morpho's profile. The company secured USD $175 million from investors including Paradigm, a16z and Ribbit Capital at a reported valuation of USD $2 billion. Robinhood also selected Morpho for its Earn product, while Galaxy Digital became a curator on Morpho and made its vaults available to institutional clients through Fireblocks.

Fixed terms

Midnight uses an offer-based model in which lenders and borrowers set their own terms. Loans are issued as fixed-term obligations, with rates determined by market pricing.

The protocol includes features aimed at institutional users, including support for multiple collateral parameters, market-level compliance rules and transactions involving specific counterparties. Capital can also remain in variable-rate markets until it is matched into fixed-rate positions, helping to avoid idle funds.

Morpho said the protocol could support a broader range of activity than existing decentralised lending systems, including financing backed by tokenised real-world assets, structured credit products and repo-style transactions.

Paul Frambot, Chief Executive Officer of Morpho, outlined the company's view of the market shift.

"Fixed-rate lending is fundamental to how global credit markets operate. Without it, onchain markets remain incomplete. Midnight enables participants to structure loans with defined rates, maturities and counterparties, in a way that aligns with institutional standards and may pave the way to cryptocurrencies becoming an alternative powerhouse in institutional and retail finance products," said Paul Frambot, Chief Executive Officer of Morpho.

Base, which is hosting the first deployment, described the launch as part of a broader effort to make blockchain-based financial infrastructure more usable for established market participants.

"The majority of global credit runs on fixed rates and defined terms. Onchain lending has largely stayed variable-rate, which has held it back from serving institutional credit. Morpho Midnight closes that gap, and offers a clear signal that the foundations of traditional finance are being rebuilt on open infrastructure," said Antonio Garcia-Martinez, Head of Growth at Base.

The move reflects a wider trend in digital asset markets, as infrastructure providers adapt products originally shaped for crypto-native traders to the needs of asset managers, corporate treasuries and other regulated participants. In credit markets, that typically means clearer terms around maturity, counterparty exposure, collateral treatment and compliance.

For Morpho, adding fixed-rate lending broadens what can be built on its network. It also gives users a way to begin forming pricing across different loan durations, a step towards a more developed onchain credit market with clearer benchmarks for funding costs.

Morpho said Midnight enables participants to manage "all dimensions of a loan, including risk, rate, duration, and compliance".