Cryptocurrency infrastructure firm MoonPay is moving to improve self-custodial spending by introducing a new payment solution allowing users to hold and spend fiat balances.
On Nov. 13, MoonPay officially introduced MoonPay Balance, a new payment tool enabling users to store and spend fiat balances on MoonPay and use it as an entry point to interact with decentralized finance (DeFi).
The new solution empowers users to spend balances through MoonPay’s direct integration with non-custodial or self-custodial wallets like MetaMask, Phantom and Bitcoin.com, according to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph.
SEPA, Faster Payments and Open Banking supported at launch
At launch, MoonPay Balance will be available in the United Kingdom and most European countries except Germany.
The complete list of supported jurisdictions features 27 countries, including the UK, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
The process of depositing and withdrawing from MoonPay Balance. Source: MoonPay
At launch, the new payment solution supports a range of payment methods, including Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) payments, Faster Payments and Open Banking payments.
“MoonPay is actively working to expand payment options, with ACH coming soon for US users,” a spokesperson for MoonPay told Cointelegraph.
While users are not able to top up their balances with crypto, they can still exchange their crypto into euros or British pounds and use those proceeds to top up their MoonPay Balance, the representative noted.
MoonPay said it will take zero fees for depositing, withdrawing, buying and selling, while its partners “may charge ecosystem fees depending on the specific transaction or service.”
Non-custodial crypto wallets as “primary bank accounts”
In launching MoonPay Balance, MoonPay contributed significantly to the adoption of self-custody, which is a method of storing cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) independently from any other entity than the owner.
“In the future, users can expect their non-custodial crypto wallets to serve as their primary bank accounts,” MoonPay co-founder and CEO Ivan Soto-Wright said.
MoonPay co-founder and CEO Ivan Soto-Wright. Source: Fortune
He noted that MoonPay Balance bridges a key gap in the decentralized ecosystem, giving users the freedom to manage their crypto in non-custodial wallets, adding:
“At MoonPay, we believe users should have complete control over their digital assets, while enjoying an experience that matches or exceeds the standards set by traditional fintech applications.”
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MoonPay’s latest spending solution follows a series of integrations with major traditional finance firms like PayPal.
In July 2024, MoonPay integrated fiat PayPal on-ramps for customers in the European Union and the UK. Previously, MoonPay enabled a similar PayPal feature in the United States in May 2024.
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