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 cryptocurrency. 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.

Why Is Solana Sponsoring a Poker Tournament?

The partnership demonstrates how Solana's sub-cent transaction costs can solve real-world friction in high-stakes, cross-border payments. Tournament entry costs have traditionally absorbed processing fees from credit cards and wire transfers. Solana's average transaction cost sits below $0.001, which 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, handling the conversion and settlement layer that connects a player's crypto wallet to the WSOP's entry systems. This makes borderless buy-ins available for players from outside the US without the currency conversion and wire fees those players would otherwise face.

"Solana's speed and efficiency mirror the fast-paced energy of our tournaments," said Ty Stewart, WSOP CEO.

Ty Stewart, CEO at World Series of Poker

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, giving participants the choice between crypto and traditional payments.

How Does This Sponsorship Reach Mainstream Audiences?

• ESPN Broadcast Reach: The WSOP Main Event returns to linear television 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.
• Venue and Table Branding: 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.
• Digital Streaming: Daily streams run on the WSOP YouTube channel and through the @Solana and @WSOP accounts on X, extending reach beyond traditional television.
• Global Player Base: The WSOP claims roughly 100 million monthly players globally across its events and online platforms.

This visibility puts Solana's branding in front of hundreds of millions of viewers, many of whom may not be familiar with cryptocurrency. For a network seeking mainstream adoption, the WSOP sponsorship offers exposure to a global audience during prime-time television broadcasts.

What Makes the Payout Feature Significant?

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

"Introducing Solana-powered buy-ins and payouts modernizes how money moves through the poker ecosystem and reduces friction for players around the world," explained Vibhu Norby, Chief Product Officer at the Solana Foundation.

Vibhu Norby, Chief Product Officer at Solana Foundation

Poker is a logical beachhead for Solana's payments infrastructure. 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.

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

Jim Walker, President of MoonPay Commerce

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. The partnership announcement also references future collaboration on on-chain poker products, though no specifics have been disclosed.

This sponsorship fits within a broader arc for Solana: demonstrating that its sub-cent fees and settlement speed are usable in high-stakes, real-money contexts outside of decentralized finance (DeFi). The Solana Foundation recently launched its Enterprise Developer Platform with Worldpay and Western Union as early adopters, signaling a push toward institutional and mainstream payment use cases.