TL;DR:
- MoonPay launched Trade, a platform connecting banks and fintechs with tokenized assets and DeFi across more than 200 blockchains.
- The infrastructure is built on Decent.xyz, a startup acquired for a “high eight-figure” sum, according to sources familiar with the deal.
- Caroline Pham, former acting chair of the CFTC, leads MoonPay Institutional, the company’s institutional arm behind the new service.
MoonPay announced the launch of MoonPay Trade, a platform designed to connect banks, fintechs and enterprises with tokenized assets, decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and stablecoin liquidity through a single integration spanning more than 200 blockchains.
The infrastructure behind the new service is built on Decent.xyz, the startup specializing in cross-chain routing that the company acquired for a figure described as a “high eight-figure” sum by a source familiar with the transaction. The platform will serve as the execution arm of MoonPay Institutional, the company’s business unit focused on regulated financial firms.
The RWA Market Tripled Its Value
This launch is a response to the growth of the RWA market. Real-world tokenized assets — blockchain versions of stocks, bonds and funds — exceed $33 billion in market value, a figure that tripled over the past year according to data from RWA.xyz. Boston Consulting Group projects that market could reach $18.9 trillion by 2033. Asset managers such as BlackRock, Franklin Templeton and JPMorgan already operate tokenized funds on public blockchains, while stablecoins are consolidating their role as payments and settlement infrastructure.
Trade includes support for tokenized fund subscriptions, collateral transfers and integrations with DeFi lending protocols such as Morpho, Aave and Maple Finance, enabling users to generate yields or take out loans directly on blockchain networks. Caroline Pham, former acting chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and current Head of MoonPay Institutional, stated in a press release that “every major financial institution is building a tokenized asset strategy” and that the platform offers access to onchain markets “with full regulatory compliance.”
MoonPay’s Strategic Acquisitions
The company has been executing a series of acquisitions and building a broad financial infrastructure. In early May, it acquired DFlow, a trading infrastructure provider on Solana that processed more than $12 billion in volume during the first quarter. This year it also purchased security startup Sodot, and last year it brought in payment processors Meso and Helio.
