Most crypto payment announcements involve startups building new infrastructure from scratch. This one is different. MoonPay has embedded stablecoin payment rails directly into Paysafe (NYSE: PSFE), a payments platform that processed $167 billion in transactions in 2025. The integration does not require merchants to build anything new. Crypto payment capability sits alongside cards, digital wallets, eCash, bank transfers, and local payment rails inside a platform that thousands of operators across e-commerce, gaming, financial services, and retail already use.
The first product live from the partnership is Pay with Crypto, which lets customers fund accounts using USDC, other stablecoins, or major cryptocurrencies, instantly converting the deposit to US dollars. For the iGaming and daily fantasy sports operators that represent a significant portion of Paysafe’s client base, it means players can fund accounts with stablecoins in seconds without any additional integration work on the operator side.
Why this partnership structure matters more than most crypto payment deals
The conventional approach to bringing crypto into payments has been consumer-facing: build a crypto wallet app, acquire users, hope merchants accept it. That model has struggled because it requires simultaneous adoption on both sides of the transaction. MoonPay and Paysafe have taken the opposite approach.
By embedding stablecoin rails at the payment processor level, every merchant already on Paysafe’s platform gains crypto payment capability automatically. The merchant does not need to evaluate a new crypto vendor, negotiate a separate contract, or run a technical integration. The capability is simply there when they want to activate it.
That distribution model is far more powerful than any direct-to-consumer crypto payments play. Paysafe has approximately 2,800 employees across 12 countries, 30 years of payments infrastructure, and a client base spanning iGaming, video gaming, e-commerce, online trading, retail, travel, and hospitality. MoonPay is not trying to build that network. It is plugging into it.
According to the Bank for International Settlements, the primary barrier to stablecoin adoption in payments has consistently been merchant acceptance infrastructure rather than consumer demand. Embedding stablecoin rails at the processor level rather than requiring merchant-by-merchant adoption directly addresses that barrier.
The iGaming angle is where this gets commercially specific
Paysafe’s President of Global Gaming, Zak Cutler, framed the announcement explicitly around the online gaming market, noting that cryptocurrency is evolving from an investment asset into a unit of value for payments, and that the shift is gathering pace particularly in US online gaming.
That framing reflects real commercial dynamics. Online gaming operators have a specific and acute need for fast, low-friction deposit methods. Players who want to fund an account do not want to wait for bank transfers to clear. Credit card deposits face restrictions from card networks in certain gaming contexts. Stablecoins solve both problems: they settle in seconds, carry no card network restrictions, and are increasingly familiar to the demographic that drives online gaming growth.
The settlement flexibility for operators adds another commercial dimension. Operators can choose to settle in stablecoins directly to a crypto wallet, or convert to US dollars or other fiat currencies through MoonPay’s Virtual Accounts powered by Iron. That optionality lets operators manage their treasury exposure to crypto volatility while still offering the deposit method their customers increasingly prefer.
MoonPay’s regulatory footprint is what makes this scalable
MoonPay holds a New York BitLicense, a New York Limited Purpose Trust Charter, and money transmitter licenses across the United States, alongside MiCA authorization in the European Union. That regulatory stack is not easy to build and represents a significant competitive moat for a company trying to power enterprise-grade crypto payment infrastructure.
For Paysafe, partnering with a provider that already holds the necessary licenses across major markets means the regulatory compliance work is largely done. The New York BitLicense in particular is one of the most demanding cryptocurrency regulatory approvals in the world, and its holders are a small group of companies that have demonstrated the compliance infrastructure to meet New York’s standards.
According to the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, regulatory licensing is the primary determinant of which crypto payment infrastructure providers can serve institutional and enterprise clients at scale. MoonPay’s existing licenses across the US and EU position it to expand the Paysafe integration into additional markets without requiring new regulatory approvals in most cases.
What $167 billion in transaction volume means as a distribution platform
Paysafe processed $167 billion in annualized transaction volume in 2025. To put that in context, that is larger than the GDP of most countries. Even a small fraction of that volume shifting to stablecoin payment rails represents a meaningful contribution to on-chain transaction activity and a significant commercial opportunity for MoonPay’s infrastructure business.
The broader trend supports this direction. The Federal Reserve’s 2025 payments study documented continued growth in digital payment adoption and increasing consumer comfort with non-traditional payment methods. Stablecoins occupy a specific niche in that landscape: faster than bank transfers, available 24/7, not subject to card network restrictions, and increasingly regulated in ways that give enterprises confidence to deploy them.
MoonPay CEO Ivan Soto-Wright’s framing, that crypto rails are making payments faster and cheaper and the job is to close the gap between this technology and real-world utility, describes exactly what this integration is designed to do. Embedding stablecoin rails into a $167 billion payment platform is about as direct a path to real-world utility as the crypto payments industry has found.
Sources
- Bank for International Settlements — Stablecoin Adoption in Payments
- Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance — Crypto Regulation Research
- Federal Reserve — 2025 Payments Study
- Paysafe — Investor Relations
- MoonPay — Official Website
Editorial disclosure
This article is based on a press release issued by MoonPay and has been independently rewritten and editorially expanded. It covers a payments integration partnership between MoonPay and Paysafe. Paysafe trades on the NYSE under the ticker PSFE. This article discusses cryptocurrency payment infrastructure. Cryptocurrency and stablecoin transactions carry financial and regulatory risk. This article does not constitute financial or investment advice. Market context is sourced from the Bank for International Settlements, the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, and the Federal Reserve. Commentary reflects the author’s own assessment. The information provided on this website is for informational and educational purposes only. Our content is derived strictly from verified online sources to ensure accuracy and objectivity. This analysis does not constitute financial, investment, or professional advice. Readers are encouraged to consult with qualified professionals before making decisions based on this information. For more information, please see our full DISCLAIMER.
