Solana Becomes Presenting Sponsor of WSOP 2026, Enabling Zero-Fee Crypto Buy-Ins

The Solana Foundation has become the Official Presenting Sponsor of the 2026 World Series of Poker, marking the first time in WSOP history that players can enter tournaments using crypto. Starting at the 57th annual summer event at Paris Las Vegas and Horseshoe Las Vegas, players can fund buy-ins with SOL, USDC, or USDT, with zero processing fees. Stablecoin payouts for tournament winners are planned for the 2026 WSOP Paradise in The Bahamas in December, according to the official announcement.

Payment infrastructure is provided by MoonPay, whose Commerce division is powering the buy-in and payout flow on Solana. The sponsorship also covers WSOP Paradise, which brings the stablecoin payout feature to a second major event later this year.

Zero-Fee Buy-Ins Powered by MoonPay on Solana

Tournament entry costs have traditionally absorbed processing fees from credit cards and wire transfers. Solana's average transaction cost sits below $0.001, per the Solana Foundation, which is what enables the zero-fee structure for buy-ins. Players using a Solana-compatible wallet can send SOL, USDC, or USDT directly to enter, with no intermediary charges on the crypto side of the transaction.

MoonPay's Commerce division provides the payments infrastructure. Its system handles the conversion and settlement layer that connects a player's crypto wallet to the WSOP's entry systems, making borderless buy-ins available for players from outside the US without the currency conversion and wire fees those players would otherwise face.

WSOP CEO Ty Stewart called the fit intuitive: "Solana's speed and efficiency mirror the fast-paced energy of our tournaments."

Solana Foundation CPO Vibhu Norby emphasized the friction-reduction angle: "Introducing Solana-powered buy-ins and payouts modernizes how money moves through the poker ecosystem and reduces friction for players around the world."

MoonPay Commerce President Jim Walker added: "By powering buy-ins and payouts through MoonPay on Solana, we're meeting that demand directly: faster, borderless payments."

The partnership runs alongside traditional payment methods rather than replacing them. Players at Paris Las Vegas and Horseshoe Las Vegas can still buy in via conventional means.

ESPN Broadcast Puts Solana Branding in 300 Million Homes

The WSOP Main Event returns to linear TV on July 2, with ESPN carrying coverage across 130-plus countries and more than 300 million homes via ESPN networks, TSN, Disney+, Groupe M6, Abema Japan, and Warner Bros. Discovery's Eurosport, per the Solana Foundation. Solana branding appears on the broadcast set, at event venues, and on the poker table felt, the standard presenting-sponsor placement for an event of this scale.

Daily streams run on the WSOP YouTube channel and through the @Solana and @WSOP accounts on X. The WSOP claims roughly 100 million monthly players globally across its events and online platforms.

Stablecoin Payouts in December

The more structurally significant feature is the stablecoin payout option, which launches at WSOP Paradise in The Bahamas in December. Tournament winners at that event will have the option to receive their prize settlements in stablecoins on Solana, bypassing the wire transfers and processing delays that can complicate international prize distribution. The partnership announcement also references future collaboration on on-chain poker products, though no specifics have been disclosed.

The payout feature puts Solana's payments stack to a practical test: large, cross-border value transfers with real professional players as recipients.

Part of a Broader Payments Push

As we covered earlier this week, the Solana Foundation launched its Enterprise Developer Platform with Worldpay and Western Union as early adopters, and WalletConnect Pay added Solana to its checkout layer reaching 700-plus wallets and 55.5 million users. The WSOP sponsorship fits that same arc: Solana demonstrating that its sub-cent fees and settlement speed are usable in high-stakes, real-money contexts outside of DeFi.

Poker is a logical beachhead. Its players are globally distributed, comfortable with digital accounts and bankroll management, and already accustomed to moving money across jurisdictions. Wire fees, conversion costs, and settlement delays are friction that serious poker players have historically absorbed as a cost of the game.

Whether the WSOP integration drives meaningful volume on-chain depends on how widely the buy-in option is adopted. The mechanics are live at the summer event; the December Paradise event will add the payout side to complete the loop.