Last Updated on June 2, 2022
Quick take:
- Ashton Kutcher, Paris Hilton, Snoop Dogg and Steve Aoki are among some of the celebrity investors.
- This investment is part of MoonPay’s $555 million Series A round.
- MoonPay CEO Ivan Soto-Wright says Hollywood is using smart contracts and blockchain technology to assert their creative intellectual property rights.
Crypto payments infrastructure provider, MoonPay has raised $87 million from more than 60 globally recognised names from the music, sports, media and entertainment industries, including Bruce Willis, Maria Sharapova, Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Drake and more.
This latest fundraise is part of MoonPay’s $555 million Series A round disclosed last November led by Tiger Global Management and Coatue, which values the company at $3.4 billion.
Out of the 60 celebrity investors, several are already active in the NFT and crypto space. These include Ashton Kutcher, who was involved in the NFT-based adult animated series Stoner Cats alongside his wife Mila Kunis, and Guy Oseary, who represents NFT projects, World of Women and Yuga Labs. Kutcher and Oseary are co-founders of venture capital firm Sound Ventures which invested in MoonPay.
Other celebrity investors who have either backed, purchased or launched Web3 and NFT projects include Steve Aoki, Paris Hilton, Snoop Dogg, Justin Bieber, The Weeknd, Eva Longoria, Gal Gadot, and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Kinship Ventures, co-founded by Gwyneth Paltrow, was responsible for bringing on at least 10 Hollywood celebrity investors including Brie Larson, Mindy Kaling, Shailene Woodley, and Zoe Saldaña. Brie Larson recently came under fire for entering the metaverse.
MoonPay’s suite of payments infrastructure products enables people to easily buy and sell cryptocurrencies and NFTs through more than 250 partner sites, including Bitcoin.com and OpenSea. Its NFT Checkout solution allows the purchase of NFTs instantly with a credit or debit card.
“Web3 is radically changing the way we approach the business of entertainment, sports and music,” said Ivan Soto-Wright, CEO and Co-founder of MoonPay. “Hollywood is using smart contracts and blockchain technology to assert their creative intellectual property rights.”
The influential figures from sports, music, media and entertainment who have participated in this investment represent industries on the cusp of Web3 adoption and are changing the way creatives, artists, and athletes approach art, fan engagement, and intellectual property management.
“Major global sports franchises have used digital tokens and NFT collectibles to transform fan engagement. And recording artists are beginning to explore how NFTs can give them more control over royalty rights. These are the underpinnings of a creator economy renaissance. And our strategic investors are helping to lead that movement. We’re honored to work with them to help onboard the world to Web3,” Soto-Wright added.
Besides proving crypto and NFT payment tools, MoonPay also provides an NFT concierge service that assists high net-worth individuals in purchasing NFTs. Its celebrity clients include Madonna, rapper Wiz Khalifa, Jimmy Fallon, and more.
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