Morpho Launches Fixed-Rate Lending Protocol Midnight on Base

Morpho, one of the largest onchain lending protocols, launched Midnight, a fixed-rate and fixed-term credit protocol, on the Base network. The team announced that "Morpho Midnight is live," describing it as "fixed rate, fixed term credit markets."

Alongside the protocol, Morpho released a new Markets App that lets users lend and borrow directly from the fixed-rate markets. The app supports Base at launch, "with more networks to follow," according to the company.

Most DeFi lending runs on variable interest rates that move with supply and demand. Midnight instead lets participants lock in a rate for a defined term, closer to how fixed-income credit works in traditional markets.

Paul Frambot, Morpho's co-founder, said the protocol gives "the users the ability to set their rates and terms," calling it the team's "most ambitious step yet." He framed the launch as part of an effort toward "bringing the $200 trillion global credit market onchain," and said Midnight "opens up many possibilities for fintechs, institutions, and credit desks alike."

Frambot separately described the accompanying Markets App as letting users "lend & borrow directly from Midnight Markets," adding that "there's still a lot to iterate" while calling it "one of the most advanced DeFi apps."

The $200 trillion figure is Morpho's own characterization of the addressable market, not an independent measurement of the protocol's activity.

Morpho previously introduced its fixed-rate approach at the protocol level, and Midnight extends that work into live markets with a dedicated app. Frambot said the app will expand beyond Base to additional networks over time.