2 weeks ago
As the crypto abstraction consolidates, MoonPay is softly becoming the infrastructure furniture for the adjacent question of Web3.
With implicit 30 cardinal verified users across 160 countries and a afloat licensed planetary stack, the institution is enabling everything from fiat onramps to embedded DeFi experiences.
Originally launched to marque wallet top-ups seamless via Apple Pay and debit cards, MoonPay present powers API-first solutions utilized by astir each large DeFi app.
“We started with a elemental question, however bash you apical up your wallet?” MoonPay's CEO and co-founder Ivan Soto-Wright told CoinDesk successful an interview. Now it’s astir giving developers the tools to bring crypto into mundane life.
Ivan Soto-Wright is speaking connected the main signifier astatine Consensus 2025, successful Toronto connected May 15.
The institution is pushing toward a afloat API-driven, "headless" infrastructure model, wherever developers tin plug MoonPay into their products conscionable similar Stripe.
Helio, 1 of MoonPay’s recent acquisitions, underscores this trajectory. Moonpay acquired the Solana-powered crypto outgo processor successful January, for a reported $175 million.
Despite its size and reach, MoonPay inactive operates with a startup mentality. With lone 300 employees, the squad is "execution-first" and relentlessly focused connected efficiency. The institution saw 112% year-on-year growth, with Q1 2025 marking its strongest 4th ever.
MoonPay chiefly earns via transaction fees connected crypto purchases done debit cards, Venmo, and Apple Pay. But it’s experimenting with zero-fee trading products similar “Balance,” which allows users to deposit currency and commercialized instantly.
Soto-Wright is simply a well-known entrepreneur and investor, and is simply a subordinate of the Milken Institute Fintech Advisory Council.
Prior to MoonPay, helium was CEO and co-founder of astute wealth app Saveable. He started his vocation astatine London-based concern steadfast Redington.
CoinDesk: What trends bash you spot emerging successful crypto?
Soto-Wright: “DEXs volition overtake CEXs, with users demanding power implicit their assets but expecting the creaseless UX of a centralized platform."
"MoonPay’s ethos is that much crypto transactions should beryllium peer-to-peer, taking vantage of decentralized exchanges. We’re seeing a wide displacement from CeFi to DeFi, with decentralized exchanges presently dominating 30% of the market. I spot this inclination continuing to displacement implicit clip – DeFi is planetary and yet reduces friction and costs by cutting retired the middleman.”
How bash you expect the wallet marketplace to develop?
“Cryptocurrency wallets volition yet regenerate slope accounts. Users volition person aggregate wallets, similar you and I person a fig of slope accounts now. MoonPay provides the mission-critical infrastructure to powerfulness these wallet experiences, some from our MoonPay Widget merchandise and APIs.”
Does MoonPay plan to marque much acquisitions successful the adjacent term?
“M&A is simply a immense maturation operator to our business. We presumption it arsenic an accelerator to assistance america determination rapidly and bring much products to market. A large portion of our M&A strategy is identifying the close companies to assistance execute our imaginativeness for the aboriginal of payments. An illustration of this is Helio, which unlocked our quality to powerfulness crypto commerce for merchants."
“We’re ever unfastened to M&A,” Soto-Wright said, noting that past acquisitions person been cash-flow affirmative from time one. “It’s astir speed, scaling by acquiring large teams with a crisp laminitis mindset.”
What features bash customers want, amended UX?
A cardinal taxable for MoonPay is the displacement from custodial to non-custodial finance. “We judge crypto should beryllium non-custodial first,” said the company's CEO.
To facilitate this shift, MoonPay is processing what it calls the “CEX acquisition successful a DeFi environment.” That means abstracting distant the complexity of DeFi —wallets, UTXOs, compliance — into easy-to-integrate SDKs and widgets. “Think of it similar packaging up the convenience of a centralized speech and putting it into your ain wallet.”
What does the aboriginal person successful store for MoonPay?
While not yet confirmed, a MoonPay stablecoin could beryllium successful the pipeline.
“We’re taking our time, but you tin spot the aboriginal signs successful Balance. Eventually, determination could beryllium a stablecoin.”
READ MORE: Why MoonPay and PayPal Partnered to Expand Crypto Adoption successful the U.S.
Disclaimer: Parts of this nonfiction were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial squad to guarantee accuracy and adherence to our standards. For much information, spot CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.
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