PayPal, MoonPay Launch PYUSDx Stablecoin Platform
MoonPay, M0, and PayPal have launched PYUSDx, an infrastructure platform for PayPal’s PYUSD-backed stablecoins. The platform is designed to drive institutional and retail adoption through an API-first approach focused on compliance and asset-backed transparency.
The PYUSDx platform is a collaborative effort, combining M0's tokenization technology with MoonPay's payment infrastructure and distribution. This allows developers to create their own branded stablecoins backed 1:1 by PayPal's PYUSD, which is issued by the federally regulated Paxos Trust Company. The goal is to drastically reduce the go-to-market time for new stablecoin products from months to just a few days. This initiative represents a strategic shift for PayPal, positioning PYUSD as a foundational reserve asset for other projects to build upon, rather than directly competing with stablecoin giants like Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC). The PYUSDx framework provides the tooling to mint, manage, and integrate these new stablecoins across various blockchains. Tokens created through PYUSDx are distinct from PYUSD and cannot be held or transacted within PayPal or Venmo wallets. M0, founded in 2023 with leadership from MakerDAO and Circle veterans, provides the core infrastructure that separates stablecoin reserve management from the programmable, application-specific features developers want. Their platform is designed to unify liquidity across different custom stablecoins by building them on a common layer. This approach allows developers to define who can mint, hold, and transfer their tokens while creating custom revenue models. MoonPay, founded in 2019, brings its global payment rails and crypto on-ramp/off-ramp services to the partnership. Having processed billions in crypto transactions, MoonPay's infrastructure is integrated into major exchanges and wallets, providing a wide distribution network. PYUSDx tokens will be issued by MoonPay Digital Assets Limited, which recently received a New York trust charter. The first project to build on the new platform is USD.ai, a decentralized finance protocol. It is developing an application-specific stablecoin designed for AI infrastructure and machine-to-machine payments. This highlights the platform's focus on enabling tailored digital currencies for specific ecosystems and business models. Since its launch in August 2023, PayPal's PYUSD has expanded its reach to multiple blockchains, including Solana, to increase transaction speed and lower costs. By September 2025, PYUSD's market capitalization had surpassed $1 billion, and it's now the sixth-largest stablecoin. This growth is partly fueled by features like a 3.7% annual yield offered to PayPal users holding PYUSD balances.
