MoonPay is building a new business line inside live events. The crypto payments firm just wrapped the second stop of the MoonPay X Games League in Chiba. Additionally, it is now handling Solana buy-ins for the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Together, these deals form a pattern. Live events are becoming MoonPay’s product testbed for stablecoin payments, on-ramps, and consumer wallets at scale.
The stakes go beyond marketing. In both partnerships, MoonPay owns the payment rails underneath the event. As a result, real users move real dollars through the stack every day of competition. That volume gives MoonPay a live proving ground for infrastructure it wants merchants and enterprises to adopt.
crypto is better with friends
— MoonPay 🟣 (@moonpay) July 3, 2026
we brought @Ledger to the MoonPay @XGames League with us in Sacramento, repping XC Los Angeles in style! pic.twitter.com/iHmgoBLVx3
How the Stack Actually Works
The setup revolves around one stablecoin, one wallet, and one card. XO Cash is a fully reserved, USD-backed stablecoin issued and managed by MoonPay. It runs on M0’s open stablecoin infrastructure, which handles the on-chain mechanics. Exodus provides the self-custody wallet where XO Cash lands. On top of that, athletes carry an NFC-enabled MoonPay XGL Exodus Card linked directly to their wallet.
That last piece closes the loop. In effect, an athlete can receive stablecoin compensation and tap-to-pay at a merchant terminal the same day. Additionally, MoonPay is layering a pass-through partner model on top of the base stack. Through that structure, MetaMask became the Official Crypto Wallet for MoonPay X Games Sacramento. In short, one anchor deal pulls an entire vertical of wallets, exchanges, and payment brands into the property.
XO Cash ($XO), the new @Exodus USD-backed stablecoin, is here!
— MoonPay 🟣 (@moonpay) March 12, 2026
Powered by MoonPay and built on @M0, $XO moves like crypto and spends like cash. pic.twitter.com/EDLIOqG1Dx
The X Games League Is the Flagship Test
Sacramento kicked off the XGL era from June 26 through 28 at Cal Expo. The event drew more than 52,000 live fans and over 12 million US live TV viewers. As a payments deployment, that is a serious volume of eyeballs and on-site transactions. Every drafted athlete already carried XO Cash and a MoonPay XGL Exodus Card entering the season. Additionally, MoonPay owned exclusive branding on the Men’s and Women’s Skateboard Vert ramp itself.
The Chiba stop wrapped this past weekend and expanded the payments product. There, MoonPay introduced the $10,000 MoonPay X Games NBD Award, paid out for the first “never been done” trick. Momiji Nishiya of XC New York collected the debut prize for a crooked grind nollie heelflip. Meanwhile, the standings tightened, with XC Tokyo and XC New York tied at 1,770 points ahead of the championship. Notably, the team-ownership model got real validation in May, when UNA Sports Group bought both XC New York clubs.
XC Los Angeles went full send last week in Sacramento at @moonpay @xgames League.
— Ledger (@Ledger) July 3, 2026
🔒 Locked in for Chiba, Japan this weekend.
On ramp. Off ramp. Own it. pic.twitter.com/PC7rI6tf81
The WSOP Parallel Track
The X Games deal does not stand alone in MoonPay’s live-event strategy. Weeks earlier, MoonPay ran a similar play at the 2026 World Series of Poker. Starting June 10 at Paris Las Vegas and Horseshoe Las Vegas, players could buy into events using Solana. Payment options included SOL, USDC, and USDT, all through MoonPay with zero processing fees. As a result, it was the first time in WSOP’s 57-year history that players entered directly with crypto.
The second phase arrives this December at WSOP Paradise in the Bahamas. There, tournament winners can opt to collect payouts in stablecoins settled on Solana. One structural difference sets this apart from the X Games deal, however. At WSOP, the Solana Foundation holds the Presenting Sponsor slot while MoonPay handles the rails underneath. In contrast, at the X Games, MoonPay is the headline itself, not the infrastructure vendor.
What’s Ahead in the Next Six Months
The next test comes fast. The first-ever XGL Championship runs July 24 through 26 at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. Four clubs will compete across 18 events for a $500,000 championship purse. MoonPay handles winning-team payouts as part of the title deal. Additionally, organizers expect the championship to draw the season’s largest live and broadcast audience.
Then comes December at WSOP Paradise, where stablecoin payouts go live. In parallel, MoonPay is rolling out Exodus Pay. That self-custody payments platform uses XO Cash as a core liquidity layer. That product moves the same infrastructure from athletes and poker players to everyday consumers. In short, the live events are effectively field tests for a broader stablecoin payments push.
What to Be Excited About
Several things stand out for anyone watching crypto payments mature. First, the pitch centers on utility rather than speculation. Athletes get faster cross-border compensation without waiting on bank rails. Players skip processing fees on tournament buy-ins. In effect, real users are already saving time and money on payments that used to be slow and expensive.
Second, the full-stack model is genuinely replicable. MoonPay handles stablecoin issuance, Exodus delivers wallet and card tooling, and M0 supplies the on-chain plumbing. Any league or event with global talent and cross-border money flows could copy the structure. Third, this is not a jersey patch. It is embedded infrastructure that either proves out or fails in public, on a compressed timeline.
The Real Test
The next few weeks will show whether the model holds. New Orleans delivers the first championship payout in stablecoin-enabled sports history. WSOP Paradise then puts prize money through the same rails at scale. If both settle cleanly and quickly, MoonPay walks into 2027 with a proof point no other crypto firm can match. Otherwise, the market will find out where the plumbing breaks.
Either way, live events have become the most important storefront in crypto payments this year. MoonPay put itself at the front of it. Meanwhile, the rest of the industry now has a live template to study, copy, or challenge. As a result, this is one of the few crypto stories in 2026 with real answers coming in months, not years.
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