Merlin Egalite is the co-founder and integration team lead of Morpho, a decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocol. He is involved in the protocol's development and strategic direction, which aims to provide peer-to-peer lending on the blockchain. ^[1]

Education

Egalite graduated from CentraleSupelec with a degree in engineering in 2021. ^[2]

Career

Egalité began his career in 2018 as a staff member of Genius CentraleSupélec, a student organization promoting entrepreneurship. He later became its president and served as president of Genius Global, a broader student entrepreneurial network. Around the same time, he worked as the CEO's assistant at Octobot, a startup offering AI-powered consulting for companies dealing with Chinese partners. His role included technical development, data scraping, SEO, and automation. Octobot was incubated at Schoolab in Paris between March and September 2019.

From 2019 to 2020, he worked as a mobile and web development consultant at Junior CentraleSupélec, contributing to projects focused on business management platforms. In 2020, he joined the Baby VC fellowship, a venture capital training program. He also held short-term roles that year as a full-stack engineer at AtTheSpring, where he developed a chatbot for life guidance, and as a data scientist at Randstad.fr, where he built a job title and skill normalization system using deep learning. He continued in data science as an intern at Paris Digital Lab, developing a recommender system for BNP Paribas Asset Management.

Egalité interned at Blockpulse from August 2020 to February 2021, contributing to blockchain protocol development and digital equity management tools. In late 2020, he was recognized as a finalist in the ETHGlobal hackathon for Unite.community, a project focused on token distribution. In December 2020, he contributed to The Commons Stack, a project centered on public goods funding mechanisms using blockchain tools.

In 2021, he worked as a smart contract hacker at Kleros, analyzing and testing Ethereum-based contracts for vulnerabilities. That same year, he co-founded Morpho Labs, a company focused on building open infrastructure for decentralized lending. At Morpho, he has helped develop protocols that support the creation of permissionless on-chain lending markets, focusing on transparency, efficiency, and composability. ^[3]

Interviews

Bitcoin Backed Loans

On the Crypto 101 podcast, Egalite discussed the recent announcement that Coinbase users could borrow against their Bitcoin through Morpho Labs, which was presented as a significant innovation in the DeFi space. The hosts, Bryce Paul and Brendan Vman, spoke with Egalite, who detailed how the platform allows users to access loans using Bitcoin as collateral, akin to a home equity line of credit. During the conversation, Egalite shared his background and the development of Morpho, including its connection to decentralized finance and the integration of AI. They explored the potential growth of the lending product, including anticipated adoption rates and the future of decentralized finance, suggesting the possibility of further integrations and innovations. The episode closed with Egalite's insights on the evolving landscape of finance, regulation, and the potential for advanced AI applications in the crypto space. ^[4]

Permissionless Lending

On the Hyperness podcast, Egalite discussed the innovative design and vision behind Morpho. After identifying challenges with existing lending protocols, he shared his background in DeFi and the impetus to create Morpho, particularly their dependence on external platforms that could change at any moment. Highlighting key features of Morpho, he explained its minimalistic design, which reduces complexity and increases predictability and stability. Egalite also elaborated on the flexibility offered to builders, allowing them to create isolated markets and customize risk parameters. Additionally, he discussed the potential for integrating real-world assets, the importance of improved user experience in DeFi, and the ongoing push for institutional adoption through compliant and secure market structures. He emphasized Morpho's commitment to building a more open and resilient financial ecosystem. ^[5]

Presentations

Risk Isolation

At the DeFi Security Summit, Egalite discussed the importance of developing safe and scalable decentralized finance protocols, emphasizing the role of single-purpose protocols in achieving this goal. He highlighted the challenges in the current decentralized finance paradigm, particularly the significant security risks associated with complex smart contracts, leading to billions of dollars in hacks. Egalite proposed several principles for creating more resilient protocols, such as minimizing governance to enhance security, ensuring immutability to foster trustlessness, isolating risks to prevent contagion across systems, and advocating for simplicity in design to reduce complexity and potential bugs. He concluded that adopting these principles could help overcome the existing limitations in decentralized finance and improve the overall security and functionality of the ecosystem. ^[6]

Panels

Onchain Adoption

At the State of Crypto Summit 2025, Egalite, Shayne Coplan (Polymarket), Ty Haney (TYB), and Jesse Pollak (Base) explored the journey towards bringing one billion people onto blockchain technology and the reality behind this ambition. They highlighted the collaboration between Coinbase and Shopify to integrate USDC payments for numerous global merchants, emphasizing the transformative potential of decentralized finance and on-chain solutions. Each panelist shared insights into their projects: Haney outlined TYB's innovative loyalty rewards system aimed at enhancing brand-consumer relationships, Egalite discussed Morpho's advancements in streamlined lending services, and Coplan showcased Polymarket’s prediction markets as powerful tools for obtaining valuable insights. The conversation underscored the core values of community, transparency, and accessibility within the emerging crypto landscape. This suggests that these developments hold real-world implications for enhancing financial and consumer engagement across diverse populations. ^[7]

Digital Yields

At Paris Blockchain Week 2025, representatives from across the financial technology ecosystem—including centralized finance (CeFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi)—discussed the evolving landscape of digital asset yields and shared insights on their approaches to yield products. Cyrus Pazelle (SwissBorg) emphasized their commitment to minimizing risks while maximizing user yield and leveraging advances in DeFi for improved product offerings. Meanwhile, Michael Sunenshine (Securitize) highlighted their role as a leading tokenization platform, discussing the importance of generating additional value through tokenized assets while noting the growing market interest. Egalite discussed innovations in optimizing lending protocols and the significance of catering to diverse user risk profiles. The panel wrapped up by reflecting on the potential growth of the tokenized asset market and the importance of regulatory advancements in fostering broader participation from traditional financial institutions. ^[8]

DeFi Innovation

During a panel discussion at the ITC conference, Artem Sinyakin (Oak Invest) moderated a conversation with Egalite, Ryan Galvankar (Plaza Finance), and Valentin Pletnev (Quasar) about the future of decentralized finance (DeFi). The speakers examined the interoperability challenges in the crypto ecosystem, emphasizing the need for better bridges and user experiences across different chains. They discussed lessons learned from recent events in DeFi, such as cascading liquidations linked to a founder's borrowing practices, highlighting the importance of risk management and the responsibility of both protocols and users. The panelists advocated designing products that address user needs rather than merely showcasing technical possibilities. They concluded that simplifying user experiences and ensuring regulatory compliance would be crucial for broader adoption and innovation in DeFi. ^[9]

Securing DeFi

In a livestream during the DeFi Security Summit, Egalite and Mounir Benchemled (Paraswap) discussed the security of DeFi protocols. The session began with an introduction to the DeFi Security Summit, which was set to occur in Bangkok before Devcon. Egalite shared insights into Morpho's recent launch of the Morpho Blue protocol, emphasizing the rigorous security measures applied during its development, which aimed to minimize the attack surface and enhance user trust. He highlighted the importance of a minimalist approach in protocol design to mitigate risks, advocating for thorough testing throughout the development phase. Benchemled followed with his experiences at Paraswap, detailing the complexities of decentralized exchange (DEX) integrations and the need for robust security practices to prevent issues like unauthorized fund access and slippage. He outlined Paraswap's architecture and the changes to enhance user experience while maintaining security. Both speakers stressed the significance of open discussions and peer reviews in effectively addressing security challenges within DeFi development. ^[10]