MoonPay Grabs Coveted BitLicense Approval In New York

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By Ian Allison|Edited by Jesse Hamilton

Jun 4, 2025, 1:38 p.m.

Moon and buildings
  • The BitLicense approval completes MoonPay’s U.S. regulatory coverage, complementing money transmission licenses in 46 other U.S. jurisdictions.
  • The NYDFS approval comes on the heels of MoonPay opening a new headquarters in New York City.

MoonPay, a cryptocurrency on-ramp and payments firm with over 20 million users, has been granted a coveted BitLicense and money transmitter license by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).

The BitLicense approval completes MoonPay’s U.S. regulatory coverage, complementing money transmission licenses in 46 other U.S. jurisdictions, as well as registrations in the UK, Australia, Canada, Italy, Ireland and Jersey, the company said in a press statement on Wednesday.

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Donald Trump’s crypto-friendly administration has made attaining a solid footing in the U.S. all the more desirable for firms as his administration works on federal regulations. The NYDFS BitLicense approval is widely recognized as a gold standard in the crypto industry.

The NYDFS approval comes on the heels of MoonPay opening a new headquarters in New York City, which the company said is now its largest U.S. office.

“As a U.S.-founded company with a headquarters in New York City, we’re immensely proud of this milestone and look forward to our continued work with regulators nationwide to make crypto accessible to everyone,” said MoonPay co-founder and CEO Ivan Soto-Wright in a statement.

Ian Allison is a senior reporter at CoinDesk, focused on institutional and enterprise adoption of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. Prior to that, he covered fintech for the International Business Times in London and Newsweek online. He won the State Street Data and Innovation journalist of the year award in 2017, and was runner up the following year. He also earned CoinDesk an honourable mention in the 2020 SABEW Best in Business awards. His November 2022 FTX scoop, which brought down the exchange and its boss Sam Bankman-Fried, won a Polk award, Loeb award and New York Press Club award. Ian graduated from the University of Edinburgh. He holds ETH.

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