DeFi’s New Players: A Bit Late to the Party?

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So, the suits at Bitwise, those connoisseurs of carefully packaged investments for the… let’s say, gently persuaded… have finally poked their noses into the murky world of DeFi. They’ve launched a “vault” on Morpho. A vault! Like they’ve unearthed buried treasure. More like buried fees, if you ask me.

  • Bitwise, weary travelers finally arriving at the DeFi oasis, have opened a vault. Non-custodial, they say. Meaning you are responsible when it all goes south.
  • A modest 6% APY, they promise. A princely sum, of course, for the privilege of letting them tinker with your coin.
  • Institutional interest is “growing.” Meaning the sharks are circling, smelling blood – or rather, yield.

The announcement arrived on January 26th, presented with the solemnity of a state decree. A “non-custodial” strategy, they proclaim. As if handing you a shovel and saying, “Dig your own hole, but we’ll watch.” They retain the power, naturally. They always do.

You, the user, retain “control.” Control, ha! Like a puppet on strings-fancy strings, mind you, woven from smart contracts-but strings nonetheless.

A Dance Around Custody (and Responsibility)

This first foray involves stablecoins – USDC, to be precise. Safe, predictable, utterly…boring. Built on the foundation of “overcollateralized lending.” Translation: they’re taking a lot of collateral just in case someone sneezes and the whole edifice collapses. A strategy targeting 6%… a rate that would make a peasant blush, but a financier nod with approval.

Finance is moving onchain. Vaults are a key part of that, offering investors a transparent way to earn digital yield on their assets.

Today, we’re excited to announce that Bitwise is launching non-custodial vault strategies as a curator on @Morpho.

The quick details:

-…

– Bitwise (@BitwiseInvest) January 26, 2026

They assure us the funds are allocated to borrowers who post “excess collateral.” Meaning, the risk is mostly contained. The positions are “visible on-chain,” so you can watch your money slowly… or rapidly… erode. No need to trust them, of course. Just watch.

Jonathan Man, CFA – a title designed to inspire confidence – leads the risk oversight. He and his team, wielding their “research, trading, and risk infrastructure”- a fancy way of saying they’ve got spreadsheets and plenty of meetings. All built over “several years” of politely relieving investors of their capital.

From Paper to Pixels: Bitwise Attempts Reinvention

So, Bitwise has decided ETFs are so last year. They now wish to build “on-chain tools,” not merely offer access through neatly regulated wrappers. A noble ambition, of course. Like a bear trying to conduct an orchestra. Morpho, that incubator of lending strategies, is helping them along the way.

Morpho, with its standardized smart contracts, offers a convenient stovetop upon which Bitwise can attempt to cook up a digital fortune. They envision more “vaults” in the future. More opportunities for both profit… and potential sorrow.

They’re holding their cards close regarding timelines and performance. A classic move. Let’s just say this is a “first step.” As capital floods the blockchain, Bitwise finally peering into the chaos. DeFi, it seems, is no longer a frivolous experiment. It’s just…infrastructure. And someone, eventually, was bound to try and profit from it.

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2026-01-27 06:30