Key Takeaways:
- Crypto payments solution startup MoonPay raised $87 million in latest funding
- The investment comes from a list of celebrities, including Justin Bieber and Snoop Dogg.
YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) – MoonPay, a global crypto payments infrastructure provider, has added high-profile celebrities to its list of investors, with Justin Bieber, Paris Hilton, Maria Sharapova, and Snoop Dogg, among others, pouring in $87 million.
Other big names on the crypto payments startup’s list of recent backers include Gwyneth Paltrow, Bruce Willis, Steve Aoki, Matthew McConaughey, The Chainsmokers, Kate Hudson, Jason Derulo, Drake, and Eva Longoria. Mindy Kaling, Questlove, and Shawn Mendes.
MoonPay has previously assisted some of the celebrities mentioned above in acquiring non-fungible tokens (NFT) from famous collections, including the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) of Yuga Labs.
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MoonPay makes NFTs more accessible
Founded in 2018, MoonPay allows users to trade in cryptocurrencies using conventional payment methods. Collectors can purchase NFTs via credit cards, mobile wallets, and bank transfers using the company’s software.
According to Ivan Soto-Wright, CEO and Co-founder of MoonPay, Web3 is radically changing the way we approach the business of entertainment, sports, and music.
“Hollywood is using smart contracts and blockchain technology to assert their creative intellectual property rights…And recording artists are beginning to explore how NFTs can give them more control over royalty rights. Our strategic investors are helping to lead that movement. We’re honored to work with them to help onboard the world to Web3,”
Wright told in a comment about the development.
However, MoonPay faces competition from other payment infrastructure providers such as PayPal. Last year, PayPal announced the launch of its crypto feature, allowing users to trade in crypto and make cryptocurrency payments. Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Litecoin (LTC) were some of the coins to get on the payment giant’s platform.
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The NFT industry will cross $60 billion in 2031
Following the spike in the popularity of NFTs, trade volumes saw a massive increase. According to the NFT data tracking website DappRadar, sales of NFTs jumped 21,000% in 2021 to cross $24 billion. A year earlier, that number was just $82 million. In addition, by the time the year ended, there were 2.7 million unique active NFT wallets.
In January 2022, OpenSea saw the sale of $4.8 billion in NFTs on its platform alone. However, just a year earlier, in January 2021, only $8 million worth of NFTs were sold on the platform.
According to Market Decipher, the global collectibles market will reach $628 billion by 2031. With a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14%, NFTs will form a big chunk of the total market in the next decade. Pundits expect the NFT industry to cross the $60 billion by 2031.
Although the existing numbers show the industry is still in its early days, the situation can change. With companies like MoonPay offering their services to those still unable to trade in cryptocurrencies, more people will get access to NFTs.
But, as WestCoastNFT co-founder Steve Mitobe asserted in an exclusive interview with CoinChapter, “We are only scratching the surface of what this market will become.”
Meanwhile, the company is preparing to go public through an IPO soon. Will investments from Justin Bieber, Snoop Dogg, Maria Sharapova, and Paris Hilton make the difference? Time will tell.
