MoonPay eyes $150M acquisition of Helio Pay to expand crypto e-commerce reach

Crypto payments firm MoonPay is working on a potential acquisition deal with HelioPay, aiming to increase its crypto payment services and bolster its current user base.

If the deal pushes through, the firm is looking to spend about $150 million, which would be the company’s largest acquisition yet.

MoonPay could compete with Coinbase Commerce directly

According to Fox Business Journalist, Eleanor Terrett, MoonPay is still negotiating its acquisition of HelioPay for an estimated $150 million. 

While the specific deal terms have yet to be revealed, some are already speculating that if the Miami-based firm purchases Helio, it could soon rival Coinbase Commerce, a major player in self-service crypto payments.

Helio already offers payments in Bitcoin, Ether, and multiple stablecoins to over 6000 e-commerce merchants and content creators, remaining a viable alternative to Coinbase Commerce. It even incorporated Solana Pay on its Shopify platform, which boasts close to 140 million monthly users.

If MoonPay manages to acquire Helio, it could augment its crypto service offerings and possibly attract more users to its platform.

MoonPay acquired its money transmitter license for its Texas operations

Besides its recent negotiations with Helio, MoonPay has been working to broaden its presence in the e-commerce sector. 

For starters, the firm received its Money Transmitter License from the Texas Department of Banking this month. Now, the fintech company can operate in Texas freely allowing users to buy the 64 different cryptocurrencies on its platform through Venmo and PayPal.

The company has even planned to allow its Texas users to sell different cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, and Ethereum by 2025. 

MoonPay co-founder and CEO Ivan Soto-Wright remarked:

MoonPay is committed to prioritizing compliance and consumer protection as we expand crypto accessibility in Texas and beyond. We look forward to continuing our close work with regulatory bodies to bring our crypto solutions to more users around the world.

~ Ivan Soto-Wright

On November 13, the Miami-based firm also launched MoonPay Balance, a fiat-to-crypto payment solution. The new payment solution now allows users in the EU or UK to top up in Euro or British Pounds and use it to buy or sell crypto. Moreover, the platform will let users have more interactions with decentralized finance protocols from non-custodial wallet solutions like MetaMask and Phantom.

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