In brief
- MoonPay was granted a BitLicense and money transmitter license in New York.
- The firm says it can now operate coast-to-coast in the United States without coverage gaps.
- New York City’s “Bitcoin Mayor” Eric Adams recently suggested ending the BitLicense.
Crypto payments company MoonPay has been granted its BitLicense and money transmitter license from the New York Department of Financial Services, it announced on Wednesday.
Now, MoonPay customers based in New York can access the firm’s entire stack of fiat-to-crypto services.
“The New York BitLicense is a critical milestone for MoonPay, enabling us to directly service New York customers,” MoonPay co-founder and CEO Ivan Soto-Wright told Decrypt. “New York is considered the gold standard in U.S. financial regulation, and we are thrilled to join the small group of companies that have passed this rigorous process.”
The BitLicense is a New York license necessary for conducting business in virtual currencies in the state. It allows an entity to maintain custody of digital assets on behalf of others, perform exchange services, and more.
With its New York licenses granted, MoonPay now holds money transmitting licenses in 47 United States jurisdictions, and registrations in countries like the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada.
Established in 2015, the BitLicense has been historically difficult to obtain for businesses looking to conduct crypto activities in the state. But current New York City mayor Eric Adams—the self-proclaimed “Bitcoin mayor”—recently suggested it should no longer exist.
“I want you back in the city of New York, where you won’t be attacked and criminalized. Let’s get rid of the Bitcoin license and allow us to have the free flow of Bitcoin in our city,” Adams said at the recent Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas.
Adams has been vocal in support of the crypto industry, recently hosting a crypto summit after calling for NYC to become the “crypto capital of the world.”
MoonPay has helped move the needle in that direction, unveiling a new headquarters in New York City at the end of April prior to being granted its BitLicense.
“New York is the financial capital of the world. Our business has always been about bridging the traditional finance industry and the new crypto economy, and now, with our new HQ in New York and our BitLicense, we can work more closely with the largest financial institutions in the world,” said Soto-Wright.
The firm, which said it notched its best financial year by reaching profitability in 2024, played a pivotal role in the early success of President Donald Trump’s Solana meme coin launch.
As for what’s next, Soto-Wright told Decrypt, “We are going to continue investing in talent in New York and the United States, with more announcements coming soon.”
Edited by Andrew Hayward
Editor’s note: This story was updated after publication to clarify attribution for the MoonPay comments.
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