MoonPay Secures New York BitLicense, Expands Crypto Services Across All 50 U.S. States

Global crypto payments provider MoonPay has received a major regulatory green light from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), earning the coveted BitLicense. With this approval, MoonPay can now operate independently across all 50 U.S. states, eliminating the need to rely on third-party partners for its crypto services.

The BitLicense, introduced in 2015, is known for its rigorous compliance standards and has become a gold standard for digital asset companies aiming to establish trust and legitimacy in the U.S. market. MoonPay becomes one of just 34 companies to have secured the license, joining high-profile players such as Coinbase, Circle, Robinhood, and Ripple.

“Back in the day, my firm had some clients who abandoned the BitLicense application process because of the difficulty,” said James Murphy, a crypto lawyer widely known as MetaLawMan on X.

His comment underscores how selective the NYDFS has been—only two firms received the license in 2023, making MoonPay’s approval a notable achievement.

This milestone supports MoonPay’s broader U.S. expansion strategy, which has been gaining momentum. The company recently opened its American headquarters in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood and reported its “strongest financial performance in history” for 2024. It has also acquired two payment infrastructure firms—Iron and Helios—to bolster its fiat-to-crypto on- and off-ramp capabilities.