Jupiter acquires Moonshot after $400M trading surge

Jupiter (CRYPTO:JUP), a decentralised exchange (DEX) aggregator on Solana (CRYPTO:SOL), has acquired a majority stake in Moonshot, a self-custodial app that allows users to purchase memecoins using Apple Pay.

The financial terms of the deal remain undisclosed, but the acquisition was confirmed on January 25 by Jupiter’s pseudonymous founder, Meow.

“For the first announcement of Catstanbul, I'm thrilled to share that Jupiter Exchange has acquired a majority stake in Moonshot. The team is amongst the smartest, most driven group of people I have ever met,” Meow stated.

Moonshot gained significant attention following the January 18 launch of Donald Trump’s Official Trump (CRYPTO:TRUMP) memecoin.

The app’s popularity skyrocketed, climbing to the top of the U.S. App Store’s finance category from its earlier position at 309th.

During the TRUMP memecoin debut, Moonshot facilitated nearly $400 million in trading volume and recorded over one million daily active users by January 20.

Launched in July 2024 and powered by TurnkeyHQ, Moonshot has quickly become a prominent platform for memecoin trading.

In addition to Moonshot, Jupiter also acquired SonarWatch, a portfolio-tracking tool.

SonarWatch (CRYPTO:SONAR) will discontinue its standalone platform as its features are integrated into Jupiter’s ecosystem.

SonarWatch’s native token, SONAR, will be phased out, with holders given the option to exchange it for Jupiter’s token, JUP.

Jupiter has also introduced updates to its platform, including "Ultra Mode," which automates processes like real-time slippage estimation and optimised transaction handling.

A new security feature called Jupiter Shield is also set to launch soon.

These developments come amid a 10% surge in JUP’s value over the past 24 hours, with the token trading at $0.93 at the time of reporting.

The acquisitions and platform updates are expected to enhance Jupiter’s capabilities within the decentralised finance space as it continues to expand its offerings.

At the time of reporting, the Jupiter (JUP) price was $1.06.