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MoonPay Acquires Meso in a Bid to Accelerate Global Payments Transformation

TL;DR

• MoonPay acquired Meso to strengthen its global payments network, integrating banks, card networks, stablecoins, and blockchains under a unified regulatory framework.
• Ali Aghareza will assume the role of CTO and Ben Mills will serve as Senior Vice President of Product, reinforcing the company’s ability to scale payments and unify financial channels.
• The acquisition follows MoonPay’s purchases of Helio and Iron, consolidating a global system that enables reliable transactions in both fiat and crypto.

MoonPay acquired Meso, a startup specializing in bridging traditional finance and cryptocurrencies, with the goal of solidifying its transformation into a regulated global payments network.

The operation allows MoonPay to integrate banks, card networks, stablecoins, and blockchains under a unified compliance framework, including MTLs, BitLicenses, and MiCA approval, strengthening its infrastructure and providing more efficient and secure payment solutions.

Meso’s co-founders, Ali Aghareza and Ben Mills, will join MoonPay’s executive team. Aghareza will take on the role of CTO, bringing experience from Braintree and from building Meso as a trusted infrastructure partner for fintechs and crypto platforms. Mills will serve as Senior Vice President of Product, leading the global product strategy and contributing his experience from Braintree, Venmo, and Solana. Their addition will enhance MoonPay’s ability to scale payment systems worldwide and connect multiple financial channels within a single ecosystem.

MoonPay Builds a Financial Ecosystem Through Acquisitions

This acquisition adds to a series of previous purchases, including Helio, a Solana-based payments application, and Iron, a stablecoin infrastructure provider. The combination of these three companies consolidates MoonPay’s core components to deliver a global payments system that enables consumers and businesses to transact reliably in any format, whether fiat or digital. The company aims to simplify access to financial services and increase interoperability between traditional markets and blockchain networks.

Founded in 2019, MoonPay is known for its fiat-to-crypto ramps, which facilitate the purchase and sale of digital assets through conventional payment methods. The company currently serves over 30 million users and maintains relationships with nearly 500 partner companies, positioning itself as a central crypto infrastructure provider. Integrating Meso will enhance the user experience and expand self-custody capabilities and developer-oriented APIs, offering more versatile tools to manage both digital and traditional assets.

The company projects that this interoperable and regulated network will be able to connect diverse financial systems, providing a reliable way to move money across all markets and formats