More than 60 celebrities from the music, film and investment world are among Miami-based MoonPay's latest backers.
The cryptocurrency payment startup raised $87 million from a collection of investors that include Ashton Kutcher, Gal Gadot, Snoop Dogg, Justin Bieber, Gwyneth Paltrow and Matthew McConaughey. Miami hospitality mogul David Grutman and Time Ventures, an investment firm led by Salesforce co-founder Marc Benioff, are also among MoonPay's new supporters.
MoonPay co-founder and CEO Ivan Soto-Wright said web3, a term for a future version of the internet powered by blockchain technology, will transform the way the entertainment industry approaches fan engagement and intellectual property management.
Major sports franchises are already using digital collectibles like non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to build fan communities, he said. Musicians are exploring how NFTs – usually purchased with cryptocurrency – could potentially give them more control over royalty rights, and Hollywood is using smart contracts to record their creative intellectual property rights on the blockchain.
"These are the underpinnings of a creator economy renaissance," Soto-Wright said.
The investment comes only months after the startup closed $555 million series A round that pushed its valuation to $3.4 billion.
MoonPay reports it is the world's largest provider of cryptocurrency payments infrastructure, enabling businesses to bridge traditional finance and crypto. The company creates products that let people buy and sell cryptocurrencies using credit cards, bank transfers and mobile wallets. Its software also gives businesses access to the infrastructure they need to buy and sell cryptocurrency while staying compliant with regulators, according to its website.
Paltrow, an actress and co-founder of investment firm Kinship Ventures, said her firm believes MoonPay is well positioned to bring more people into the crypto economy. That economy has the potential to empower content creators by giving them new ways to own and share their work.
"Web3 is inspiring the entertainment industry, and commerce in general, to reimagine the way we create community, connect with fans [and] build value," she said.
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