MoonPay raises a celeb-filled funding round

Crypto payments service MoonPay raised $86.7 million at a $3.4 billion valuation, much of it from A-list celebrities.

Why it matters: This financing wasn't about raising capital — it's got plenty of that already — but about raising MoonPay's caché and consumer awareness by bringing some high-profile supporters on board.

• Investors in the round include names like Drake, Justin Bieber, Jason Derulo, Bruce Willis, Paris Hilton, Gwyneth Paltrow, Matthew McConaughey, Mindy Kaling, and Questlove.
• And the list goes on and on, with more than 60 musicians, actors and other celebs attached.

Flashback: Last November, MoonPay raised $555 million in a Series A round led by Tiger Global and Coatue.

• That round, which already valued the company at $3.4 billion, also had strong celebrity power, with Ashton Kutcher's Sound Ventures and CAA's Connect Ventures along.

What it does: In short, MoonPay handles payments for crypto exchanges and NFT marketplaces like Coinbase, FTX, and OpenSea.

• For celebs, that means operating a concierge service that helps them convert hundreds of thousands — or millions — of dollars in fiat into crypto that can score them a Bored Ape.
• But for the rest of us, that usually entails processing a credit card transaction that speeds up the purchase of an NFT on OpenSea.
• The company says it has served 10 million customers and processed almost $3 billion in transactions.

Yes, but: MoonPay isn't the only crypto or NFT-focused business looking to cash in on celebrity caché, which usually only goes so far in driving consumer adoption of new technology.

• There's still an open question around whether NFT fans like Gwyneth Paltrow or Paris Hilton will inspire others to start purchasing digital assets.