Helio
Key Data
- Trading Name: Helio
- Legal Entity:
- Activities: Crypto Payment
- Location: London, UK
- Regulations: unregulated
- Key People: Stijn Paumen
- Latest news: Helio
- Latest update: January , 2025
Helio is a Web3 payments platform designed to facilitate crypto transactions for merchants and creators. While it claims to revolutionize payments with decentralized technologies, a deeper dive into its offerings reveals both significant strengths and potential vulnerabilities.
Offering
Helio’s primary objectives include:
- Simplifying Crypto Payments:
- Provide businesses and creators with user-friendly tools to integrate cryptocurrency transactions seamlessly into their platforms.
- Expanding Web3 Adoption:
- Promote widespread use of decentralized payment solutions by offering multi-chain support and reducing barriers to entry for merchants and consumers.
- Enhancing Accessibility:
- Enable global, instant, and low-cost payment solutions, ensuring inclusivity for businesses and users in diverse markets.
- Driving Innovation in E-Commerce:
- Develop plug-ins, APIs, and embeddable features to integrate Web3 payment options into mainstream platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce.
- Fostering Trust and Scalability:
- Establish partnerships with industry leaders and leverage blockchain technology to ensure secure, scalable, and reliable payment services.
- Bridging Web2 and Web3:
- Encourage adoption by traditional businesses through easy-to-use solutions and potential fiat payment integrations alongside cryptocurrency options.
- Sustainability and Growth:
- Continuously innovate and differentiate in an increasingly competitive market to solidify Helio’s position as a leader in Web3 payments.
Serving Industries
Helio serves merchants, e-commerce businesses, creators, and developers seeking seamless crypto payment solutions. It caters to crypto enthusiasts, global businesses, and blockchain ecosystem partners, offering instant, low-cost, and borderless transactions. By targeting these groups, Helio drives Web3 adoption and bridges traditional and decentralized payment systems.
Regulation
Helio operates as a decentralized payments platform, allowing merchants and developers to accept cryptocurrency payments directly without acting as a financial intermediary. As such, Helio is not subject to traditional financial regulations applied to banks or payment service providers. However, it emphasizes security and compliance by implementing measures like KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) for merchants to ensure transaction trustworthiness. Additionally, the platform undergoes regular security reviews and audits (Helio is audited by Ackee Blockchain) to maintain its integrity and reliability.
SWOT
Strengths: Helio offers an innovative Web3 payment solution supporting 100+ cryptocurrencies and instant, low-cost global payouts. User-friendly tools like Shopify plug-ins and API integrations, coupled with market traction ($1.5B annual transactions, 6,000+ merchants), highlight its scalability and relevance.
Weaknesses: Reliance on volatile crypto markets and evolving regulations poses risks. Limited appeal to mainstream users and competition from platforms like MoonPay and Coinbase Commerce challenge its differentiation. Dependence on blockchain networks makes it vulnerable to outages or scaling issues.
Opportunities: Web3’s growth and strategic partnerships can boost adoption. Adding fiat payment options could broaden its appeal beyond crypto-savvy users.
Threats: Skepticism about crypto payments, market saturation, and economic downturns may limit growth.
Customer Review
Trustpilot: 4,6 Stars with 20+ Reviews
Key People
Stijn Paumen is the CEO and co-founder of Helio, a Web3 payments platform launched in 2022. With a track record of co-founding successful SaaS companies like ScanSafe and Wandera, achieving $600M in exits, he brings extensive experience to the role. Under his leadership, Helio has processed millions in transactions for e-commerce, NFTs, and subscriptions, serving over 900 merchants. Paumen prioritizes user-friendly crypto payments, aiming to match the speed and ease of solutions like Apple Pay. His vision includes expanding multi-chain support and driving broader adoption of decentralized, low-cost payment solutions.
MoonPay
In January 2025, MoonPay acquired Helio, a blockchain-based payment platform, for $175 million. The acquisition aims to enhance MoonPay’s crypto commerce solutions by integrating Helio’s technology, known for supporting over 6,000 merchants and processing $1.5 billion in transactions. This move strengthens MoonPay’s position in the decentralized finance and crypto payment ecosystem.
Conclusion and Rating
Helio presents itself as a transparent and innovative platform in the Web3 payments ecosystem, offering a wide range of tools for merchants and developers. Based on the information provided, we rate their compliance as green, as Helio implements KYC/AML measures and ensures security through audits and best practices. However, we remain critical due to the lack of formal regulation, which could pose risks as the regulatory landscape for cryptocurrencies evolves.
On the customer side, we also rate Helio as green, given its robust offerings, multi-chain support, and user-friendly tools, which cater effectively to its target audience of merchants and crypto-savvy individuals. While it serves a growing niche, expanding appeal to mainstream businesses could further solidify its market position.
