MoonPay Acquires Helio

MoonPay has acquired Helio, Solana’s “premiere” payment app, for $175 million, as announced on Monday. This strategic move aims to enhance MoonPay’s existing payment services.

Founded in 2022, Helio streamlines crypto payments for merchants and creators, offering tools to accept cryptocurrencies like SOL, ETH, and BTC. With over 6,000 merchants and millions of users, it has quickly become a leading crypto checkout app, handling more than $1.5 billion in transactions. The platform integrates with major digital platforms such as Discord, WooCommerce, and Shopify, notably featuring the Solana Pay plugin in thousands of stores.

This acquisition aligns with MoonPay’s strategy to establish itself as a key link between fiat and crypto, facilitating easier transactions for users wanting to buy digital assets with debit and credit cards. Previous partnerships with PayPal, BitPay, and Onramper, as well as the introduction of Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin for purchase through MoonPay, further illustrate this strategy.

Ivan Soto-Wright, MoonPay’s co-founder and CEO, stated that acquiring Helio is a significant step toward realizing their vision for the future of payments, emphasizing that the combination offers the most comprehensive product for on-chain payments.