MoonPay Announces Acquisition of Israeli Crypto Security Startup Sodot for $100 Million in All-Stock Deal
The acquisition will form a new MoonPay Institutional division, focusing on institutional-level trading, tokenization, payment, wallet infrastructure, and stablecoin issuance, led by former CFTC Acting Chair Caroline D. Pham.
Institutional investors will access crypto services through MoonPay's new division, shifting funds from retail payment infrastructure to institutional-grade security and compliance modules, benefiting MoonPay and Sodot shareholders while traditional crypto custodians face competitive pressure.
Source: Public Information
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MoonPay previously acquired Solana payment processor Helio for $175 million in January 2025 and stablecoin infrastructure Iron for over $100 million in March. This acquisition of Sodot continues its strategy of rapidly enhancing institutional capabilities through mergers and acquisitions, having earlier brought in former CFTC executives to strengthen regulatory connections.
In terms of capital strategy, MoonPay is paying for the acquisition of Sodot entirely in stock, while appointing Caroline Pham as Chief Legal Officer and Chief Executive Officer to lead the new institutional division. This combines regulatory resources, institutional compliance capabilities, and Sodot's security technology to provide end-to-end services to institutional clients, creating a high-margin closed loop through institutional fees and stablecoin/tokenized transaction volumes.
Similar to Coinbase's transition from retail to Coinbase Institutional and Binance Institutional, MoonPay is in the midst of transforming from a "retail entry" crypto payment company to a "full-stack institutional service" provider, having identified institutional business as a core growth engine for 2026.
Essentially, this represents a restructuring of the industry chain: traditional crypto infrastructure is fragmented and struggles to meet institutional risk control and compliance needs. Through continuous acquisitions and the introduction of regulatory talent, MoonPay aims to upgrade retail payment technology to an institutional-grade security and compliance platform, reshaping the delivery chain of crypto services from "consumer tools" to "institutional infrastructure."