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MoonPay has announced its $175 million acquisition of Helio, Solana’s premier crypto payment processor. This strategic move integrates Helio’s technology, team, and ecosystem into MoonPay’s portfolio.
Helio has established itself as a leading crypto checkout platform, supporting over 6,000 merchants and millions of users worldwide. The platform simplifies the process for merchants by enabling them to accept payments in a variety of cryptocurrencies, including USDC, Solana, Bitcoin, and Etheruem.
Merchants include e-commerce, subscriptions, digital goods, and more. Notable use cases include powering payments for Magic Eden NFT pre-sales, ticket sales for Solana Breakpoint, and sales of Solana Mobile phones.
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Helio has processed over $1.5 billion in transactions and integrates with platforms such as Discord, WooCommerce, and Shopify. Its developer API enables the creation of bespoke on-chain checkout flows, allowing marketplaces, apps, trading terminals, and decentralized exchanges (DEXs) to streamline and accelerate transactions. The platform’s Solana Pay plugin is also widely adopted by thousands of stores.
breaking news: we’ve acquired @helio_pay pic.twitter.com/k3Nw9XfvOo
— MoonPay 🟣 (@moonpay) January 13, 2025
“This acquisition is an important step in advancing our vision for the future of payments,” said Ivan Soto-Wright, CEO and co-founder of MoonPay.
“Helio’s technology and expertise strengthen our ability to deliver efficient, secure, and scalable solutions for crypto commerce, trading infrastructure, and marketplaces. With MoonPay and Helio combined, we now offer the most comprehensive product for on-chain payments.”
By integrating Helio’s capabilities, MoonPay aims to expand its trading and marketplace volume, further solidifying its leadership in crypto payments infrastructure.
"Helio was founded to make crypto payments accessible, empowering thousands of merchants to reach millions of customers with seamless on-chain checkouts in just three years,” said Stijn Paumen, CEO and co-founder of Helio.
“Joining forces with MoonPay, we’re excited to accelerate our mission and unlock crypto’s potential by replacing slow, costly merchant payments with fast, affordable, and decentralized solutions."
In 2024, MoonPay joined forces with PayPal, enabling users to buy and sell over 110 cryptocurrencies through their PayPal accounts. The firm also integrated with Venmo as its first crypto partner.
Towards the end of last month, MoonPay officially received approval under the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation.
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The company’s license, granted by the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM), was issued on December 30, 2024, making MoonPay one of the first companies to secure this coveted regulatory approval.
The MiCA framework, introduced by the European Union, aims to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets, ensuring consumer protection, transparency, and market integrity. This approval enables MoonPay to continue offering its fiat-to-crypto and crypto-to-fiat services across the European Economic Area (EEA), including its growing presence in the Netherlands.
