Morpho and Crypto.com have announced a collaboration to bring advanced decentralized finance (DeFi) lending and tokenization capabilities to the Cronos ecosystem. Under this alliance, Cronos and Morpho will launch stablecoin lending markets collateralized by wrapped assets, like CDCBTC, CDCETH. These will be available with Morpho Vaults, expected to roll out on Cronos in Q4 2025.
Users will be able to either supply assets to earn yield or borrow against holdings, with interest rates dynamically adjusting to supply and demand. A centerpiece of the collaboration is the integration of Morpho directly into Crypto.com’s app and exchange, unlocking DeFi lending to Crypto.com’s large user base. By doing so, millions of users may access DeFi services without needing to manage separate wallets or interfaces.
The architecture is often referred to as the “DeFi mullet”. This means having a centralized front-end with a decentralized back-end. With this, one can hide DeFi complexity under a familiar user interface.
Scaling DeFi beyond Ethereum
Morpho has already built strong traction on Ethereum. By expanding onto Cronos, it leverages a chain optimized for speed and low cost, making DeFi lending more accessible and efficient. Beyond crypto assets, the partners plan to explore wrapped real-world assets (RWAs) as future collateral in Morpho Vaults. Think tokenized real estate, equities, or funds, all of which align with Cronos’s roadmap toward institutional-grade tokenization.
Moreover, Cronos has recently undergone some performance upgrades. Its gas fees have been slashed (10× lower), and block times have been reduced to under one second. Daily transaction volumes have spiked 400%. These enhancements make it more feasible to host high-throughput DeFi lending markets.
What Coinbase did and Crypto.com can emulate
Earlier in 2025, Coinbase partnered with Morpho in a similar model. They integrated Morpho’s lending protocol so that users could borrow against their holdings. That initiative crossed $1 billion in originated DeFi-backed loans. rypto.com’s move is widely seen as following that blueprint, but extended to a layer-1 chain (Cronos) rather than only Ethereum.