Crypto payments firm MoonPay has acquired Israeli startup Sodot in an all-stock deal valued at approximately $100 million. This acquisition is a key component of MoonPay's strategy to launch MoonPay Institutional, a new division aimed at serving large financial institutions seeking access to cryptocurrency markets.
The new institutional unit will provide a suite of services including trading, tokenized securities, payments, wallet management, and stablecoin issuance. Sodot's proprietary self-hosted multi-party computation (MPC) infrastructure will form the core security layer for MoonPay Institutional, offering enhanced control over asset movements and transaction approvals.
MoonPay Institutional will be spearheaded by Caroline D. Pham, who previously served as acting chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) before joining MoonPay. The company, which serves nearly 30 million customers globally, has been expanding its enterprise infrastructure capabilities, recently acquiring stablecoin platform Iron and crypto payment processor Helio.