The MORPHO token
MORPHO is the Morpho Protocol's governance token. The Morpho DAO — made up of MORPHO holders and delegators — governs the Morpho Protocol. The governance system uses a weighted voting system in which the number of MORPHO tokens held determines voting power.
MORPHO holders can vote on changes or improvements to the protocol, including:
- Future initiatives to grow the Morpho protocol;
- Deployment and ownership of Morpho smart contracts;
- Turning on/off the fee switch built into the Morpho smart contracts;
- Govern the DAO Treasury.
Legacy and Wrapped MORPHO
The original, now legacy, MORPHO token was deployed as an immutable contract and lacked functionality associated with onchain vote accounting. The Morpho DAO voted to create a contract to wrap the legacy tokens into wrapped MORPHO to enable onchain vote tracking functionality in MIP-75.
In addition to onchain vote tracking, using an upgradeable token makes it possible to conform to a crosschain interoperability standard in the future, minimizing friction for MORPHO holders who want to move their tokens between chains.
Although legacy MORPHO tokens can be freely converted to wrapped MORPHO 1:1 via the wrapper contract, there could be a risk that legacy tokens might be used mistakenly in external integrations, such as exchanges. To prevent this, only the wrapped MORPHO will be transferable. Users can easily wrap their existing legacy MORPHO tokens on the Morpho App.
MORPHO Token Addresses
Wrapped Token
Ticker: MORPHO
Ethereum contract address: 0x58D97B57BB95320F9a05dC918Aef65434969c2B2
Base contract address: 0xBAa5CC21fd487B8Fcc2F632f3F4E8D37262a0842
Deployed: November 10, 2024
Maximum Supply: 1,000,000,000 MORPHO
Legacy Token
Ticker: MORPHO
Contract Address: 0x9994E35Db50125E0DF82e4c2dde62496CE330999
Deployed: 24 June 2022
Maximum Supply: 1,000,000,000 MORPHO
Wrapper contract
Address: 0x9D03bb2092270648d7480049d0E58d2FcF0E5123 (only on Ethereum)
Token Distribution & Vesting
The overall distribution of MORPHO tokens, including vested and unvested allocations, as of 7 November 2024.
Morpho DAO
35.4% of MORPHO tokens are owned and controlled by the Morpho DAO. Holders of the MORPHO token can vote on how these tokens are used.
Users & Launch Pools
4.9% of MORPHO tokens have been distributed from the Morpho DAO to users of the Morpho Protocol and launch pool participants. MORPHO tokens will continue to be distributed under the scalable rewards model until the Morpho DAO votes to amend it.
Morpho Association
6.3% of MORPHO tokens are allocated to the Morpho Association for ecosystem development. This allocation can be used to fund partnerships, contributors, and any other initiatives that help grow the Morpho Protocol and advance Morpho’s network.
Reserve for Contributors
5.8% of MORPHO tokens are reserved for contributors to the Morpho Protocol for their role in the development and growth of the network. This reserve includes unallocated tokens set aside by the Morpho DAO for future contributors to the Morpho Protocol such as employees of Morpho Labs, service providers, contractors, and research institutes.
Strategic Partners
27.5% of MORPHO tokens have been allocated to Strategic Partners tokens in exchange for providing support — monetary or otherwise — to the Morpho Protocol. These MORPHO tokens are distributed according to three vesting schedules based on the time these Strategic Partners joined the Morpho ecosystem.
Cohort 1: 4.0% allocated over a 3 year vest, with a 6 month lockup from when the MORPHO token contract was deployed on 24 June 2022.
Cohort 2: 16.8% originally allocated over a 3 year vest, with a 6 month lockup from 24 June 2022. However, these strategic partners have agreed to relock to a 6 month linear vesting, following a 6 month lockup from the earliest of any future transferability date or 3 October 2024. This means 100% is vested by 3 October 2025 at the latest.
Cohort 3: 6.7% allocated over 2 year linear vest, following a 1 year lockup from the earliest of any future transferability date or 17 May 2025. This means 100% is vested by 17 May 2028 at the latest.
Founders
15.2% of MORPHO tokens have been allocated to Morpho’s founders. The tokens were originally allocated over 3 year vest, with a 1-year lockup from when the token was deployed on 24 June 2022. However, all co-founders have agreed to relock to additional 2 year linear vest, following a 1 year lockup from the earliest of any future transferability date or May 17th 2025. This means 100% is vested by 17 May 2028 at the latest.
Early Contributors
4.9% of MORPHO tokens have been allocated to early contributors, including Morpho Labs’ contributors, independent researchers, and advisors, in exchange for contributions to the Morpho Protocol. These tokens have been subject to either:
- A 3-year vesting schedule with a 6-month lockup, or
- A 4-year vesting schedule with a 4-month lockup.
Circulating Supply
The circulating supply on transferability date is expected to be approximately 11.2%.
The chart below shows how the circulating supply of MORPHO tokens might evolve over time:
Note: the evolution of the MORPHO circulating supply over time is subject to change as the Morpho DAO makes future decisions on use of reserves and rate of distributions.
Initial Non-Transferability Phase
While token-based governance allows anyone to own a share of the Morpho network, many token launches are very unfair because the launch date & price are often a centralized decision. Moreover, there is usually a large information asymmetry between the initial team/investors and the potential buyers.
The MORPHO token was launched as non-transferable to tackle those issues, allowing the DAO to turn on transferability anytime. This enabled the protocol to reach meaningful traction prior to a decentralized token launch process.
Under this vision, a good equilibrium for the control of a DAO is a clear distribution between:
- Users: To own a share of the network and to provide a positive feedback loop on the product.
- Contributors: To keep improving and building based on the user's feedback and on their technical vision.
- Strategic Partners: To provide capital and guidance to fuel those contributions.
The current state of distributions in categories 2. and 3. are described in the previous section. As for 1., it is described in the Rewards section.
Morpho DAO Voted to Enable Token Transferability
Although initially deployed as a non-transferable token for the reasons mentioned above, the Morpho DAO voted to enable the transferability of the MORPHO token to advance Morpho’s mission to make financial infrastructure a public good. Since launching in June 2022, the DAO has progressively distributed ownership to the protocol’s users, strategic partners, risk curators, and other contributors aligned with Morpho's long-term vision. Now, by enabling token transferability, the Morpho DAO is opening ownership of the Morpho network to anyone.
As discussed in the community forum, this move is a key step toward realizing the protocol’s mission of transforming financial infrastructure into a public good. It will empower a broader range of participants to engage with and contribute to the Morpho ecosystem, bringing new perspectives and ensuring that DAO decisions reflect the interests of a more diverse community.
A Community-Driven Approach
The Morpho DAO took a unique approach with the MORPHO token, addressing common criticisms of token launches often controlled by a small group or centralized entity. By initially deploying MORPHO as a non-transferable token, the DAO allowed itself—not any centralized entity or individual—to decide when to enable transferability, ensuring a decentralized and community-driven process.
During the non-transferability phase, the DAO prioritized distributing ownership across three key pillars: users, contributors, and strategic partners:
- Users gained ownership in the network and helped shape its evolution,
- Contributors enhanced the technology, network, and accessibility based on user feedback,
- Strategic partners offered capital and guidance.
Now, with a robust ecosystem of contributors, tens of thousands of users, and a network poised to become a cornerstone of decentralized finance, the DAO agreed to take the next step: making the MORPHO token transferable to further its mission of transforming financial infrastructure into a public good.