On-chain lending protocol Morpho has raised $175 million in funding co-led by Paradigm, a16z Crypto and Ribbit Capital, The Block reported on Monday.

Apollo Fund, Circle Ventures, VanEck, Ledger Cathay, Wintermute Ventures, SBI Group and France's state investment bank also participated. The round was Morpho's fourth institutional fundraising since 2021 and one of the largest rounds in the history of decentralised finance (DeFi). Morpho was valued at up to $2 billion in the round, Fortune reported.

The investment was structured as token purchases. Investors bought Morpho (MORPHO) tokens at monthly average prices, with purchase prices differing depending on when they joined. After the fundraising news became known, the MORPHO token price jumped more than 10 percent.

Morpho provides a blockchain-based lending market that lets users create their own lending pools by setting their own risk parameters. Banks, asset managers, fintech companies, exchanges and wallet operators can design market conditions directly without relying on a single set of protocol rules, the company said. Deposits have topped $11 billion, and Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, Bitwise, Galaxy and Anchorage Digital are participating as institutional clients.

Paul Frambot (폴 프람보), a Morpho co-founder, said it was building an open credit network for the world that connects those with spare capital and those who need funding on a global scale. Morpho plans to use the funds to strengthen technical and commercial integration with strategic partners and expand its credit infrastructure.