MoonPay acquires 'premiere' Solana payment firm Helio in $175 million deal

MoonPay has acquired Helio, Solana's "premiere" payment app, the company said in a statement on Monday.

The deal to buy the Solana-based payment firm is worth $175 million, according to Fox Business . MoonPay's acquisition is designed to expand and improve its existing payment services, the firm said.

"Founded in 2022, Helio simplifies crypto payments for merchants and creators by providing tools to accept cryptocurrencies like SOL, ETH, and BTC. The company has quickly become a leading crypto checkout app with 6,000+ merchants and millions of users," according to MoonPay's statement. "The Helio platform has handled $1.5B+ in transactions and integrates with leading digital platforms such as Discord, WooCommerce, and Shopify (the Solana Pay plugin, installed by thousands of stores). "

MoonPay buying Helio fits into its broader strategy to position itself as the leading bridge between the world of fiat and crypto by making it easier for people to buy digital assets with debit and credit cards. These efforts in recent years have involved integrations and partnerships with firms like PayPal , BitPay and Onramper. Ripple's recently launched RLUSD stablecoin can also now be purchased using MoonPay.

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