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MoonPay Review: The Easiest On-Ramp for Crypto?
If you’re looking to make your first crypto asset purchase then you may have already encountered MoonPay. The crypto on-ramp built into applications like Ledger Live and Exodus makes it easy for you to buy digital assets with a variety of payment methods.
MoonPay also has a wide cryptocurrency selection and streamlined verification process, making it a good choice for those looking to buy crypto for the first time. Read on to help decide if MoonPay is right for you.
MoonPay Overview
- Easy on-ramp for purchasing crypto with fiat money like USD or EUR
- Application integrations for businesses to accept crypto payments
- NFT Checkout and Hypermint products for NFT creation, distribution, and purchase
Pros and Cons
Pros
Wide selection of payment methods for buying crypto
Many digital assets supported for buying and selling
Easy to integrate payment processor for businesses
Cons
No mobile application
High fees compared to other on-ramps
Not all assets are available to US residents
What is MoonPay?
MoonPay is a crypto payment processing platform that can be used by individuals to purchase crypto, or by businesses to integrate crypto as an acceptable payment method for their site. MoonPay also provides NFT minting and development products for businesses to use as well, such as their NFT Checkout.
MoonPay is integrated with platforms such as Ledger Live and Exodus in order to allow users of those wallets to easily buy cryptocurrencies. MoonPay can be considered to be an on and off ramp for crypto and fiat, allowing users to buy crypto using fiat or sell crypto for fiat. It’s then a simple process to have funds sent to your desired account.
How to Sign Up For MoonPay
There’s no need to sign up for MoonPay. When you complete your first transaction you’ll automatically be given an account. Identity verification is done during the process of your first purchase using MoonPay, creating a streamlined buying process.
What Cryptocurrencies Can You Buy on MoonPay?
MoonPay has a wide selection of cryptocurrency assets that you can buy including but not limited to:
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Algorand (ALGO)
- Cardano (ADA)
- Solana (SOL)
- Cosmos (ATOM)
- Chainlink (LINK)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Dogecoin (DOGE)
- NEAR Protocol (NEAR)
- Polygon (MATIC)
For a full list of digital assets supported by MoonPay check out this support page.
What Payment Methods Does MoonPay Accept?
MoonPay accepts a variety of payment methods on their platform. For non-US residents, payment options include:
- Credit/debit card (MasterCard, Visa, and Maestro)
- Apple Pay
- Google Pay (only on Android devices)
- SEPA (Euros only)
- UK Faster Payments (GBP only)
- PIX (Brazilian Reals Only)
US residents are limited to the credit/debit card and Google/Apple Pay options.
How to Buy Crypto with MoonPay
Buying crypto assets with MoonPay is an easy process that can be done by following the steps below:
1. Navigate to https://www.moonpay.com/buy
2. Choose the asset you want to buy and the amount you want to spend, then click Continue
3. Enter your email address then press continue. Alternatively use a Google or Apple login.
4. Enter the verification code sent to the email you provided. Tick the box to accept the terms and conditions, then click Continue.
5. Enter your basic identity details including your name, date of birth, and country of residence. Then, click Continue.
6. Enter your billing address, then click Continue
7. The next step is to enter your card or payment details, then click Continue.
8. You’ll then need to provide the cryptocurrency wallet address where you want your digital assets deposited, then click Continue.
9. Check all the details are correct, then finalize the purchase. That’s it! Note that orders made via credit or debit card usually take between a few minutes and a few hours to complete. This is dependent on the number of orders and any additional security checks MoonPay must conduct. Purchases made via GBP bank transfer will be sent to your crypto wallet within 1 business day, while orders made via EUR bank transfer can take up to 3 business days to arrive in your wallet.
MoonPay Fees
MoonPay has three different types of fees they charge, all of which are dependent on the type of payment method you use. In addition, you’ll be charged the network fee required to send the funds to your crypto wallet. Overall, the fees for using MoonPay could be considered to be quite high compared to if you transferred money to a centralized crypto exchange such as Binance through your bank.
Bank transfers sent to MoonPay incur a 1% fee, plus the network fee. Compared to most crypto exchanges, who charge no fees for bank transfer deposits, this is quite high.
Purchases made using your credit or debit card incur a 4.5% processing fee, plus network fees. This is somewhat in line with most credit card processing fees charged across the sector, but is still a little higher than others which are generally in the 3% range.
Finally, purchases made using PIX incur a 2.95% processing fee, plus network fee.
MoonPay Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, MoonPay is a safe platform to use and has never had any security issues in its history.
If you compare MoonPay to comparable applications, the fees are somewhat reasonable, but compared to the fees you’d pay by using a crypto exchange, they are high.
Yes, on your first purchase using MoonPay you’ll need to complete identity verification.
MoonPay is PayPal’s crypto payment processor, so when you buy crypto on PayPal you’re using MoonPay already.
Yes, you need to be able to provide a crypto wallet address for your funds to be deposited so you’ll need to have a wallet set up before making your first purchase with MoonPay. If you’re using MoonPay through something like Ledger Live, it should automatically add the correct wallet address.
