Crypto payments platform MoonPay is launching an institutional unit after acquiring Sodot, an Israeli crypto security infrastructure provider.
MoonPay on Wednesday announced the acquisition of Sodot, using Sodot’s key management technology as the core infrastructure layer of its new business serving financial institutions, asset managers, trading firms and exchanges entering digital asset markets.
“We built MoonPay to be the world’s leading crypto payments network,” MoonPay co-founder and CEO Ivan Soto-Wright said in a press release, adding that its institutional arm is the next stage for the company.
According to Bloomberg, the deal closed in April in an all-stock transaction valued at around $100 million. MoonPay did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment to confirm the deal’s details.
The move expands MoonPay’s business beyond retail crypto payments and reflects rising demand from traditional finance companies for secure wallet and custody infrastructure as they expand into digital assets.
MoonPay targets institutional demand
MoonPay’s new institutional division aims to serve large traditional financial firms across a range of areas, including trading, tokenized securities, payments, wallet management and stablecoin issuance.
The unit will be led by Caroline Pham, who joined MoonPay as its chief legal officer and chief administrative officer in December after serving as acting chair of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission before joining MoonPay in late 2025.
Source: MoonPay
“There is no one better suited to lead this business than Caroline, who brings decades of experience at the highest levels of financial regulation and capital markets,” Soto-Wright said.
Security race heats up in crypto
Founded in 2023, Sodot is a platform focused on crypto key management infrastructure, a critical part of safeguarding digital assets and operating institutional wallets.
The company specializes in self-hosted multi-party computation (MPC), a cryptographic method that splits a private key into separate shares distributed across multiple independent parties to increase the security of funds.
Related: Fireblocks launches tool for institutions to earn yield on stablecoins
The acquisition comes amid a growing trend of institutional services supported by crypto custody providers. Last week, crypto exchange OKX integrated off-exchange settlement by BitGo, a publicly traded digital asset custodian.
Previously, BitMEX partnered with European crypto custody firm Zodia Custody to enable institutional crypto derivatives trading, with collateral held in segregated custody off-exchange.
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