MoonPay Acquires Solana Payment Firm Helio in $175 Million Deal

MoonPay, a leading cryptocurrency infrastructure provider, has acquired Helio, a prominent Solana-based payment application, for $175 million, the company announced Monday. The acquisition aims to enhance MoonPay's existing payment services and further solidify its position in the cryptocurrency payment sector.

Helio, established in 2022, provides tools for merchants and creators to accept various cryptocurrencies, including SOL, ETH, and BTC. The platform has rapidly grown, serving over 6,000 merchants and millions of users, processing more than $1.5 billion in transactions. Helio also integrates with popular digital platforms like Discord, WooCommerce, and Shopify through its Solana Pay plugin.

MoonPay's acquisition of Helio aligns with its broader strategy to bridge traditional finance and the crypto world by simplifying the purchase of digital assets using traditional payment methods like debit and credit cards. The company has actively pursued integrations and partnerships with established financial players such as PayPal, BitPay, and Onramper. Recently, MoonPay also enabled the purchase of Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin.

"This acquisition is an important step in advancing our vision for the future of payments," said Ivan Soto-Wright, MoonPay’s co-founder and CEO. "With MoonPay and Helio combined, we now offer the most comprehensive product for on-chain payments."

The combined entity aims to streamline cryptocurrency transactions for both businesses and consumers.