The archive · Money & Fintech · Strategic decision · 2024–2025
MoonPay takes one of the first MiCA licenses, then buys Helio for $175M
When the EU's MiCA regime became enforceable, MoonPay secured one of the first Dutch licenses, then paid $175M for Helio to own merchant crypto payments.
MoonPay
What the business is
Fiat-to-crypto payments infrastructure: MoonPay's on- and off-ramps let consumers and apps buy and sell crypto with cards and bank rails across the EEA; after Helio it also processes merchant crypto checkouts built on Solana.
How it started
The EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, passed in 2023, became fully enforceable for crypto asset service providers on December 30, 2024, with an 18-month transition for firms already operating under national rules. MoonPay, one of the largest fiat-to-crypto on-ramps, chose the front door: it applied through the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets and became one of the first firms authorized under MiCA.
What happened
On December 30, 2024, the AFM issued MoonPay its MiCA license, and MoonPay said it would keep running fiat-to-crypto on- and off-ramps under the Dutch authorization, with co-founder and CEO Ivan Soto-Wright calling the approval a pivotal step. Two weeks later, on January 13, 2025, MoonPay announced the $175 million acquisition of Helio, a Solana-based checkout processor with more than 6,000 merchants and over $1.5 billion in transaction history.
How it ended up
The Helio deal stretched MoonPay from consumer on-ramp to merchant acceptance: crypto checkout for e-commerce, digital goods and subscriptions, already integrated with Discord, Shopify and WooCommerce, now sits on MoonPay's licensed infrastructure. The company said the combination would expand its trading and marketplace volume.
Background
The EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, passed in 2023, became fully enforceable for crypto asset service providers on December 30, 2024, with an 18-month transition for firms already operating under national rules. MoonPay, one of the largest fiat-to-crypto on-ramps, chose the front door: it applied through the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets and became one of the first firms authorized under MiCA.
On December 30, 2024, the AFM issued MoonPay its MiCA license, and MoonPay said it would keep running fiat-to-crypto on- and off-ramps under the Dutch authorization. Co-founder and CEO Ivan Soto-Wright called the approval a pivotal step. Two weeks later, MoonPay announced the $175 million acquisition of Helio, a Solana-based checkout processor with more than 6,000 merchants and over $1.5 billion in transaction history.
The Helio deal stretched MoonPay from consumer on-ramp to merchant acceptance: crypto checkout for e-commerce, digital goods and subscriptions, already integrated with Discord, Shopify and WooCommerce, now sits on MoonPay's licensed infrastructure. The company said the combination would expand its trading and marketplace volume.
What has to be true
- Being among the first licensed meant MoonPay could serve the whole EEA from its Dutch approval while rivals waited out the 18-month grandfathering window.
- License plus Helio made a two-sided market: a regulated fiat on-ramp on one side, merchant crypto checkout on the other, with one compliance stack.
- The EEA is the world's second-largest crypto economy behind North America, so one Dutch license unlocked the region's biggest compliant distribution opportunity.
What can be applied
When a rulebook becomes enforceable, the first license is a distribution asset: MoonPay turned its Dutch approval into a two-sided payments business before the EU's 18-month scramble even started.
Aftermath
As of January 13, 2025, MoonPay ran its EU crypto services under the MiCA license issued by the Dutch AFM on December 30, 2024, and had agreed to buy Helio for $175 million, adding a Solana-based checkout platform with 6,000-plus merchants and more than $1.5 billion in transaction history. It had also launched MoonPay Balance in November 2024, letting users store and spend fiat balances on the platform.
Sources
- MoonPay is MiCA approved!
- Crypto payments firm MoonPay secures MiCA approval in the Netherlands
- MoonPay acquires Helio in $175M deal to expand crypto payment services
spotted an error? The archive wants to know.
Your turn
You just read one. Describe what you are building, and see who is betting on the same thing.
Free account · 3 free questions · no card