Base lending surges as Morpho and Coinbase integration drives growth
Morpho (MORPHO)
Editor:
Eugene Serbin
Cryptobriefing.com reports that onchain collateral in Morpho x Coinbase vaults has risen from $1.5B to $3.5B in 2026, marking a 133% increase. This expansion has established Base as a highly active lending hub within decentralized finance. By mid-September 2026, Coinbase’s collateral on Morpho, primarily deployed on Base, reached approximately $3.62B. This figure accompanies $1.57B in outstanding loans distributed across roughly 53,000 active users.
The growth trajectory began in January 2025 with the launch of variable-rate USDC loans against cbBTC through Morpho on Base. By May 2025, the product achieved full rollout, followed by the introduction of fixed-rate bitcoin-backed loans via Morpho Midnight on September 22, 2026. Cumulative loan originations through Morpho have now surpassed $3B, while total deposits exceeded $5B by early August 2026.
Steakhouse Financial serves as the primary curator for the USDC vaults tied to Coinbase’s Morpho markets, actively managing vault parameters and risk settings. Coinbase has also introduced lending markets accepting tokenized stocks as collateral for USDC transactions, with five such stocks available as of September 2026. The 53,000 active users suggest broadening adoption beyond the usual whales and power users that historically dominated DeFi lending.
How the market reacted
Whalio's own Binance spot order flow for MORPHO, measured when this story was written up on 23 September 2026. Not the outlet's figures.
MORPHO is trading at $2.63 with a 24-hour buy ratio of 50.5%, indicating a slight edge for buyers over the full day. However, shorter-term pressure shows less conviction, with the 1-hour buy ratio at 47.7% and the 4-hour ratio at 48.0%, suggesting buying pressure is fading in the immediate term. Volume delta confirms this shift, turning negative at -$7,041 for the hour and -$85,692 for the four-hour window, despite a positive +$61,379 for the 24-hour period. The cumulative volume delta (CVD) for the 24-hour close is -$127,049, indicating that net selling pressure has outweighed buying over the day. Spot volume reached $5,711,972 with 60,460 trades, showing active participation. Net buying occurred for only 10 of the 24 hours, highlighting intermittent rather than sustained demand.
The latest daily buy ratio of 53.3% sits at the 70th percentile of the last 323 days, against a median of 51.0% - stronger buying than most days.
Was that an ordinary day?
The same Binance spot measurements for MORPHO, averaged over the days leading up to the story.
Over the preceding week, MORPHO saw a 7-day average buy ratio of 55.1%, making today’s 24-hour ratio of 50.5% notably weaker by 4.6 percentage points. Weekly volume was 0.93x the average, indicating slightly lower activity than usual. The coin experienced a +26.3% price change over eight days, driven by a total volume delta of +$3,287,045. While today’s metrics show a retreat from the week’s strong buying bias, the broader weekly trend remains positive. This represents an unusual day of consolidation compared to the consistent net buying seen on 6 of the previous 7 days.