Bitget surrenders 440m BGB tokens to Morph in governance power shift

Bitget has moved its entire BGB treasury to the Morph Foundation in a shift that takes token governance off exchange, tethering BGB’s future directly to the growth of the Morph L2 ecosystem.

According to a press release shared with crypto.news on Sept. 2, the Seychelles-based exchange has transferred its entire corporate treasury of 440 million BGB to the independently run Morph Foundation.

The move is split into two decisive actions: an immediate burn of 220 million tokens, permanently reducing the total supply, and a lockup of the remaining 220 million, which will be gradually released at a rate of 2% per month to fund ecosystem incentives, Bitget said.

Per the statement, the transfer effectively dissolves Bitget’s control over the token’s economics, handing the reins to the foundation to manage BGB’s long-term development as the native gas and governance asset for the Morph layer-2 network.

Morph takes the reins as BGB’s new home

According to the release, the Morph chain will maintain its brand, core team, and independent roadmap, signaling that this is not an acquisition but a deep, functional integration.

Its focus remains squarely on evolving into a next-generation Web3 payment infrastructure, moving beyond basic cost efficiency to facilitate real-world consumer finance at scale. This involves planned integrations with wallets, DeFi protocols, stablecoin issuers, and global payment providers, constructing a full-stack environment for onchain finance.

The move rearchitects BGB’s role within this ecosystem. It is now slated to become the primary token for all network activity. Crucially, settlement and PayFi operations will flow through BGB alongside stablecoins, embedding it at the core of the network’s economic engine. This provides a tangible utility base that extends far beyond its previous exchange-bound functions.

“With this commitment to the Morph Foundation, BGB is entering a new chapter as the gas and governance token of Morph. This upgrade expands BGB into the utility token for the next era of onchain consumer finance, powering payments, applications, and the broader settlement layer for millions of users worldwide,” Gracy Chen, CEO of Bitget, said.

Access to millions of users

A critical advantage for Morph is the immediate access to a massive user base. Bitget and Bitget Wallet’s combined 120 million users will gain direct, native access to decentralized protocols built on Morph and fueled by BGB. This provides an unprecedented distribution channel that most nascent L2 networks spend years and millions in incentives trying to build.

For developers, this translates into a uniquely fertile environment. Bitget outlined that builders on Morph will gain access to this vast, pre-existing audience, connecting their applications to one of the largest captive onchain user bases from day one.

Additionally, the Morph Rails program will serve as a backbone for expansion, offering direct support through hackathons, builder grants, and incubation programs, all funded by the vesting treasury.