Cryptocurrency payments provider MoonPay has entered into a significant partnership with the X Games, announcing a three-year title sponsorship valued in the eight figures. This alliance, revealed on January 25 during the X Games Aspen 2026, rebrands the renowned action sports competition as the MoonPay X Games League. The deal grants MoonPay category exclusivity in finance, banking, and cryptocurrency within the newly established league format, set to transition the event from standalone annual competitions to a year-round, team-based format starting in the summer of 2026.
As part of the partnership, MoonPay will gain extensive branding opportunities across draft events, digital content, and season-long broadcasts. An innovative aspect of this deal includes a pass-through provision, allowing select partners within MoonPay’s network to engage in integrated activations at the league level, thereby broadening the impact of the sponsorship.
The structure of the MoonPay X Games League involves the drafting of 150 athletes who express their eligibility for participation on four regional teams. The draft, scheduled for March 12 at Cosm Los Angeles, will assign athletes to contracts that range from two to three years, with co-ed rosters featuring 10 competitors per team. Participants will compete in various disciplines including skateboarding, BMX, snowboarding, and freeskiing across three designated summer and winter stops.
This new league format replaces the traditional individual prize-money competitions with a scoring system based on team performance and season championships. The X Games Aspen 2026, held from January 23-25 at Buttermilk Mountain, marked the conclusion of the previous standalone format. Under the new league structure, athletes are afforded base salaries, health insurance stipends, and coverage for travel expenses.
MoonPay, which was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in Miami, specializes in enabling fiat-to-cryptocurrency transactions. The company boasts over 30 million users across 180 countries and has processed more than $8 billion in transactions as of 2025.
The sponsorship follows a period where various cryptocurrency firms made notable inroads into sports sponsorships during the peak of the market in 2021. Crypto.com, for instance, secured a substantial 10-year partnership worth $175 million with the UFC as a global fight kit partner, while numerous exchanges also acquired naming rights to sports arenas. However, several cryptocurrency sponsorship arrangements from that era faced backlash as market conditions soured, particularly following the collapse of FTX in November 2022, which left numerous partnerships in turmoil, including controversial Super Bowl advertisements.
The timing of the MoonPay X Games partnership coincides with evolving regulatory frameworks for cryptocurrencies, with legislation on industry-backed stablecoins currently pending consideration in Congress.
