MoonPay Partners with Deel to Launch Stablecoin Wage Payments Across UK and EU
Through a collaboration with MoonPay, Deel will introduce stablecoin-based wage payments for employees across the UK and EU regions, with the United States market targeted for expansion in subsequent stages.
International payroll provider Deel is set to introduce stablecoin-based wage payments via a collaborative venture with MoonPay, launching initially for employees in the UK and EU regions during the coming month. This integration will permit workers to receive their earnings directly as stablecoins into non-custodial cryptocurrency wallets, with expansion into the US market scheduled for a subsequent implementation phase.
According to company statements made in October, Deel handles $22 billion in annual payroll transactions globally, serving more than 150 million workers worldwide. The platform will leverage MoonPay's infrastructure to facilitate stablecoin conversion and blockchain-based wallet delivery, essentially incorporating cryptocurrency settlement infrastructure into its current payroll framework, based on Tuesday's announcement.
Through this new arrangement, employees will have the option to elect receiving a portion or the entirety of their wages as stablecoins, rather than traditional fiat currencies in their local jurisdictions. MoonPay will oversee the conversion and settlement operations, while Deel maintains responsibility for the payroll processing and regulatory compliance infrastructure.
JP Richardson, co-founder and CEO of Exodus, characterized the partnership as indicative of a wider movement toward mainstream cryptocurrency adoption. "You don't bring the world into crypto with whitepapers. You do it with paychecks," Richardson wrote on X, contending that stablecoin-based payroll systems will minimize cross-border transaction delays and reduce intermediary costs for employees across the globe.
This partnership represents an extension of Deel's current cryptocurrency payment capabilities and provides MoonPay with an additional enterprise-level distribution avenue. MoonPay possesses a New York BitLicense along with money transmitter licenses throughout the US, in addition to authorization under the EU's MiCA regulatory framework.
Neither organization revealed which specific stablecoins would be available for use or provided estimates for anticipated user adoption rates at the initial launch. Additionally, no concrete timeline was shared regarding the US market expansion nor were specifics disclosed about regulatory clearances associated with the subsequent deployment phase.
Stablecoin space is becoming increasingly crowded
Although the MoonPay and Deel partnership rollout focuses on employees in the UK and EU territories, this collaboration emerges during a period of significant growth within the US dollar-backed token marketplace. Following the US Congress's establishment of a federal regulatory structure for payment stablecoins through the GENIUS Act in July 2025, an expanding roster of organizations has initiated efforts to introduce regulated stablecoins within the US market.
During March, World Liberty Financial, a decentralized finance platform with connections to the Trump family, introduced its USD1 stablecoin, and in January, Wyoming achieved the distinction of becoming the first US state to launch its own stablecoin, the Frontier Stable Token (FRNT).
That same month, Tether, the company behind the world's largest stablecoin USDt (USDT), announced the launch of USAt, a US dollar-backed token issued via Anchorage Digital Bank and marketed as a federally regulated payment stablecoin for domestic US transactions.
Several established US banking institutions are similarly positioning themselves to participate in the stablecoin marketplace following the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s proposal of a regulatory framework detailing how subsidiaries of FDIC-supervised banking institutions could submit applications to issue payment stablecoins in December.
Notwithstanding the influx of new market participants, the sector continues to exhibit significant concentration. Based on DefiLlama data, Tether's USDt comprises approximately 60% of the total stablecoin market capitalization, whereas Circle's USDC (USDC) constitutes roughly 24%.
