Solana Becomes Presenting Sponsor of the World Series of Poker®

(BUSINESS WIRE) -- The World Series of Poker (WSOP®), the longest-running and most prestigious poker tournament series in the world, today announced a first-of-its-kind collaboration with the Solana Foundation to bring crypto directly into the global poker experience.

Beginning today at the 57th annual summer event at Paris Las Vegas and Horseshoe Las Vegas, players will be able to purchase tournament tickets using Solana, powered by MoonPay’s payment infrastructure. This will be the first time in WSOP history where players can buy tournament tickets directly with crypto, and by leveraging Solana’s technology, this payment method will have zero processing fees.

The integration will expand further at the 2026 WSOP Paradise in The Bahamas this December, where tournament winners can receive settlements in stablecoins on Solana, enabling near-instant access to payments and reducing the friction traditionally associated with international tournament settlements.

As part of this collaboration, Solana Foundation will also serve as the official Presenting Sponsor of the 2026 World Series of Poker and 2026 World Series of Poker Paradise.

The World Series of Poker, Dealt by Solana

The poker community has long been at the forefront of digital currency adoption, with players embracing decentralized technology, like Solana, for its efficiency and transparency. As a high-performance blockchain, Solana is celebrated for its industry-leading transaction speeds - capable of processing thousands of transactions per second - and ultra-low costs, with average fees remaining below $0.001. By enabling players to make purchases through MoonPay, and cashout in stablecoins on Solana, these initiatives allow:

• Faster settlement and streamlined payment processing for eligible events

• Greater accessibility for international players traveling to WSOP events

• Near-instant global settlement, with reduced friction for users

• Expanded payment flexibility for players participating in marquee tournaments worldwide

Introducing Solana-powered purchases and settlements modernizes how money moves through the poker ecosystem and reduces friction for players around the world.

Where Poker and Crypto Converge

This initiative bridges the digital asset space and the poker world, reinforcing the growing demand among players for faster financial tools that simplify participation in global events. Beyond payments, the collaboration brings together communities that are closely aligned.

"We are incredibly proud to bring such an innovative and passionate community into the fold," said Ty Stewart, Chief Executive Officer of WSOP. "Solana’s ecosystem, like the WSOP, constantly challenges conventions and remains laser-focused on the consumer experience. Solana’s speed and efficiency mirror the fast-paced energy of our tournaments, and we are excited to showcase their technology to our global audience."

“Solana is a digital economy where people can own and trade millions of assets, make payments, earn on their money, and more,” said Vibhu Norby, Chief Product Officer, Solana Foundation. “Trading in particular has been a huge area of growth on Solana over the last few years, generating over $4 trillion in volume. At its core, trading shares many of the same characteristics as poker: hard decisions, incomplete information, minding your bankroll. We’re incredibly excited to grow the game of poker with the WSOP and bring these two worlds together.”

"Poker players have always lived at the forefront of innovation. They think in probabilities, move fast, and adopt the tools that give them an edge," said Jim Walker, President of MoonPay Commerce. "Crypto is a natural fit. By powering ticket purchases and settlements through MoonPay on Solana, we're meeting that demand directly: faster, borderless payments that make it simple for players anywhere to take their seat at the world's biggest tables."

Beyond the Felt: Ambassadors and Hospitality

The Solana Foundation is set to sponsor a select group of individual poker player ambassadors who will represent the ecosystem at this summer’s WSOP event. Additionally, the Solana ecosystem will host exclusive hospitality events at the Paris and Horseshoe venues in Las Vegas, as well as a premier experience during WSOP Paradise in The Bahamas this winter. Solana users can also look forward to collaborative onchain poker products, developed with WSOP, to follow.

Thrilling WSOP action is streamed daily on the WSOP YouTube channel and on X via @Solana. The WSOP 2026 Main Event will also return to linear TV in the United States on ESPN from July 2, and worldwide to more than 130 countries and over 300 million homes via ESPN networks, TSN, Disney+, Groupe M6, Abema Japan and Warner Bros. Discovery’s Eurosport.

Players should follow @WSOP on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram or check WSOP.com for more news and updates on this year’s WSOP event. For more information on Solana, please visit solana.com.

About World Series of Poker

The World Series of Poker® is the largest, richest and most prestigious gaming event and poker brand in the world, having awarded more than $4 billion in prize money over the past six decades. Featuring a comprehensive slate of tournaments in every major poker variation, the WSOP is poker’s longest-running tournament dating back to 1970. In 2025, the flagship event in Las Vegas attracted 246,960 entrants and awarded more than $481 million in prize money – both all-time records for the series. The WSOP portfolio of events includes approximately 50 WSOP Circuit Events annually across five continents, WSOP Europe (since 2007), WSOP Paradise (since 2023) and the record-breaking WSOP Online festival. International satellites to WSOP live events are hosted exclusively at GGPoker, the World’s Biggest Poker Room. For more information, please visit www.wsop.com.

About Solana

Solana is a high performance network powering internet capital markets, payments, AI agents, and crypto applications. Solana operates as a single global state machine, and is open, interoperable and decentralized. For more information, please visit https://solana.com.

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