Morpho launches fixed-rate lending market Midnight on Base

The Morpho protocol has launched a new fixed-rate, fixed-term lending market called Morpho Midnight on the Base blockchain, introducing a novel offer-driven model to decentralized finance (DeFi). The launch, which occurred on July 21, 2026, is designed to bring the predictability of traditional credit markets on-chain, complementing Morpho's existing variable-rate lending platform, Morpho Blue.

Midnight shifts away from algorithmic pricing based on pool utilization, a common feature in DeFi lending. Instead, it functions as a marketplace where lenders and borrowers can directly negotiate and propose loan terms, including interest rates and maturity dates. This intent-driven model is intended to provide the certainty of known funding costs and repayment schedules that institutions and businesses often require. Morpho co-founder and CEO Paul Frambot emphasized the importance of this development, stating that fixed-rate lending is fundamental to global credit markets and that without it, on-chain markets remain incomplete.

The initial deployment on Base is intentionally limited, supporting only cbBTC and USDC across multiple maturity dates as part of a progressive rollout focused...