Apollo Strikes Major Token Deal to Expand Into DeFi Lending

Hi! In today’s edition:

• 🏦 Apollo agrees to acquire up to 90 million MORPHO tokens in DeFi push

• 📈 X to launch Smart Cashtags with live crypto and stock data

• 🔁 Tomasz Stanczak to step down from the Ethereum Foundation in 2026

Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Fuse Energy!

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Apollo Moves Into DeFi Lending With Morpho Token Deal

Wall Street heavyweight Apollo Global Management, which oversees roughly $940 billion in assets, is stepping further into crypto through a new agreement with decentralized lending protocol Morpho.

Under the cooperation deal, Apollo or its affiliates may acquire up to 90 million MORPHO tokens over the next four years, representing 9% of the token’s total supply. The purchases can be made through open market buys or private transactions and are subject to ownership caps and transfer restrictions.

Beyond the token stake, Apollo and the Morpho Association said they will collaborate to support lending markets built on Morpho’s onchain infrastructure. Morpho currently ranks among the largest DeFi lending platforms, with about $5.8 billion in total value locked, offering lending markets and curated yield vaults.

The announcement sparked a short-term rally, with MORPHO rising nearly 18% over the weekend, though the token remains down sharply over the past year.

Apollo’s move follows a broader push by traditional asset managers into blockchain-based credit and tokenized finance, signaling that institutional players are increasingly viewing DeFi infrastructure as part of the future financial system.

X to Roll Out “Smart Cashtags” With Real Time Crypto and Stock Data

X is preparing to launch “Smart Cashtags” within the next few weeks, a feature that will let users see live pricing data for stocks and cryptocurrencies directly inside their timeline. The update was confirmed by head of product Nikita Bier, who said the tool will also include links that allow users to trade assets without leaving the app.

The platform will not execute trades itself or act as a brokerage. Instead, Smart Cashtags will surface real time charts and redirect users to external partners for execution. Bier previously teased the feature in January and said the underlying API will support near real time data for onchain assets, including smaller cap tokens that are not listed on major exchanges.

The move builds on X’s broader push into financial services, alongside its upcoming payments product, X Money. At the same time, Bier said the company plans to tighten rules around crypto related spam and automation, signaling that trading features will launch alongside stricter enforcement.

Tomasz Stanczak to Step Down from Ethereum Foundation

The Ethereum Foundation is undergoing another leadership change. 

Tomasz Stanczak confirmed he will step down as co-executive director at the end of February 2026, less than a year after the foundation formalized its updated executive structure. Bastian Aue will step in as interim co-ED alongside Hsiao-Wei Wang.

In his announcement, Stanczak said he feels “happy with the current state of things,” arguing that the roadmap is clearer and internal decision-making has improved. Over the past year, the foundation emphasized scaling, Layer 2 coordination, institutional engagement, and research into areas such as post-quantum security and decentralized AI. 

Stanczak also described Ethereum as entering a phase where it is increasingly used as infrastructure for financial transactions and verification.

Reaction from leadership has been supportive. 

Vitalik Buterin said Stanczak “brought fresh new energy” and helped make the foundation more responsive, while also encouraging deeper thinking about AI’s impact on blockchain systems. Danny Ryan welcomed Aue, calling him “the single most thoughtful and wise person I have ever worked with.”

Aue said he takes the role seriously and will be guided by Ethereum’s core principles, including censorship resistance, open source development, privacy, and security.

🔴 Live Today: Aave Governance Showdown + Markets

At 3:30pm ET, Laura Shin interviews Stani Kulechov, founder of Aave Labs, on the controversial “Aave Will Win” proposal — a plan to redirect 100% of Aave-branded product revenue to the DAO. The move has sparked a governance clash over decentralization, funding, and who really controls one of DeFi’s largest protocols.

Then at 4:30pm ET, Bits + Bips returns with Ram Ahluwalia, Chris Perkins, and Austin Campbell, joined by Stefan Rust (Truflation) to discuss the state of the markets, macro uncertainty, digital asset treasuries under pressure, inflation data, and whether AI capex is getting ahead of itself.

Find us on YouTube and X at 3:30pm ET.

• 💵 The Digital Chamber, a Washington-based crypto advocacy group, pushed back against Wall Street banks seeking a total ban on stablecoin yield, arguing that limited user rewards tied to activity — not passive interest — should remain in the Senate’s pending crypto legislation as negotiations continue at the White House.

• 📂 Blockchain lender Figure confirmed a customer data breach after an employee was tricked in a social engineering attack, with hackers allegedly leaking personal data such as names and birth dates, prompting the firm to launch a forensic investigation and offer credit monitoring.

• 🧠 Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin warned that prediction markets are drifting toward short-term gambling and risk long-term collapse, proposing AI-driven hedging tools tied to real-world expenses as an alternative model that could eventually reduce reliance on stablecoins and traditional fiat money.

• 🏠 Binance France executive David Princay was targeted in a failed armed home invasion, with three masked suspects arrested after police tracked stolen phones and surveillance footage, marking another crypto-linked security incident in France.

• ⏱️ Polymarket launched ultra-short 5-minute bitcoin prediction markets and hinted at a potential $POLY token airdrop, fueling speculation after trademark filings and developer comments, as the platform’s 2026 trading volume already nears $5 billion following record monthly activity.

• 🔓 A wallet linked to the 2023 $200 million Mixin Network hack moved 2,005 ETH through Tornado Cash after more than two years of inactivity, with associated funds quickly redistributed and partially sold, while the address still holds over $170 million in crypto assets.

• 🇷🇺 Russian citizens are now transacting roughly $648 million in crypto daily — or about $130 billion annually — according to the finance ministry, as lawmakers fast-track regulations to bring exchanges and derivatives platforms under state oversight while major institutions like the Moscow Exchange prepare to enter the market.

• 🏫 Harvard’s endowment reduced its bitcoin ETF exposure by 21% while opening an $87 million ethereum ETF position, maintaining bitcoin as its largest disclosed holding despite crypto market volatility during the fourth quarter.

• 🌐 Tether invested in Dreamcash, a mobile trading interface built on the Hyperliquid decentralized exchange, to expand USDT-backed perpetual markets for assets like Tesla, gold, and the S&P 500, supporting a $200,000 weekly incentive program aimed at drawing traders into tokenized real-world asset markets.

• 🇰🇷 Mirae Asset, South Korea’s largest securities firm managing $418 billion, agreed to acquire 92% of Korbit for $92 million, marking the first time a major traditional financial institution will own a domestic crypto exchange and signaling consolidation as stock markets outperform local crypto trading volumes.

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