NYSE Parent ICE Takes a $5B Stake in MoonPay

Strategic Shift

The potential investment would mark one of ICE’s most direct exposures yet to crypto-native transaction infrastructure. While the size of ICE’s prospective stake has not been disclosed, the valuation under discussion represents a sharp step up from MoonPay’s prior funding benchmarks.

It also reflects its rapid expansion across payments, stablecoins, and enterprise services over the past 18 months.

Founded in 2019, MoonPay initially built its reputation as a fiat-to-crypto on-ramp used by retail investors to purchase digital assets with cards and bank transfers. That business remains material, with the company reporting over 30 million verified users across more than 180 countries.

However, its strategic focus has shifted decisively toward infrastructure that serves merchants, developers, and financial platforms rather than end users alone.

Growth & Acquisitions

That shift accelerated in January 2025, when MoonPay acquired Helio, a Solana-based crypto payments processor, for approximately $175 million. Helio had processed more than $1.5 billion in cumulative transaction volume and was widely used by NFT marketplaces, gaming platforms, and e-commerce merchants seeking on-chain checkout functionality.

The acquisition gave MoonPay direct control over merchant payment flows and deepened its exposure to blockchain-native commerce.

MoonPay followed that move in March 2025 with the acquisition of Iron, a stablecoin-focused API platform designed for real-time settlement and treasury operations. Iron’s technology allows businesses to move funds across jurisdictions using stablecoins while managing liquidity and reconciliation through programmable interfaces.

The deal expanded MoonPay’s reach into enterprise finance, where demand for faster settlement and lower cross-border costs continues to grow.

Those acquisitions converged later in the year with the launch of MoonPay Commerce, a unified payments platform introduced in October 2025. The service supports stablecoins and major cryptocurrencies across multiple blockchains and integrates with established commerce tools, including Shopify.

By December, MoonPay reported that more than 6,000 merchants and developers were using its commerce stack, signaling traction beyond speculative crypto use cases.

Stablecoin Expansion

Stablecoins have also become central to MoonPay’s strategy. In November 2025, the company launched an enterprise stablecoin unit in partnership with M0, an open infrastructure provider for programmable digital dollars.

The service enables companies to issue fully reserved stablecoins with interoperability across blockchains, positioning MoonPay as both an issuer and distributor of regulated digital cash equivalents.

That capability drew attention from wallet providers seeking to expand beyond storage into payments. In December 2025, self-custodial wallet firm Exodus announced plans to launch a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin and payments wallet powered by MoonPay’s infrastructure, with a rollout expected in early 2026.

The partnership places MoonPay behind a consumer-facing product aimed at everyday spending rather than trading.

Regulatory positioning has been a parallel focus. MoonPay holds a New York BitLicense and has expanded compliance coverage across Europe under the EU’s MiCA framework.

Bridging Traditional Finance and Digital Assets

Earlier this year, the company also secured a $200 million revolving credit facility, providing balance-sheet flexibility during periods of elevated transaction demand and reinforcing its appeal to institutional partners.

ICE’s interest comes as the exchange operator continues to broaden its exposure to digital assets beyond traditional trading venues. The company already controls Bakkt, which offers institutional custody and trading services, and has steadily invested in data, clearing, and infrastructure businesses adjacent to emerging market structure.

A MoonPay investment would extend that footprint into payments and settlement, areas increasingly viewed as critical layers of the digital asset economy.

The timing is notable. After years of volatility and retrenchment, crypto infrastructure firms with regulatory licenses, real transaction volume, and enterprise clients have re-emerged as attractive targets for institutional capital. Stablecoins, in particular, have gained prominence as settlement tools in both crypto markets and traditional finance workflows.

Nevertheless, competition isn’t relenting. Payment processors, banks, and blockchain-native startups are all vying to control the rails that move digital value. Execution risk remains high, especially as regulators refine rules around stablecoins, custody, and cross-border payments.

If completed, ICE’s investment would underscore how deeply crypto infrastructure has become embedded in the broader financial system. Rather than a bet on price speculation, the discussions center on payments, settlement, and programmable money, areas where crypto technology is increasingly intersecting with mainstream finance.