MoonPay to offer direct crypto services in all 50 US states after obtaining New York's BitLicense

The New York State Department of Financial Services has granted a BitLicense to global crypto payments firm MoonPay, allowing the company to operate across all 50 U.S. states without relying on third-party intermediaries.

MoonPay joins a select group of 34 firms that have received the NYDFS license since the regulatory regime was introduced in 2015, including Coinbase, Circle, Robinhood, and Ripple.

The BitLicense was the first state-level framework for regulating digital asset companies in the U.S. It has long been viewed as a tough standard due to its compliance demands. Last year, only two entities — Anchorage Digital and Cumberland — secured approval, according to the agency’s public registry .

“Back in the day, my firm had some clients who abandoned the BitLicense application process because of the difficulty,” said crypto attorney James Murphy, known as MetaLawMan on X. In recent years, however, the license has become coveted among crypto service providers and widely regarded as a mark of credibility.

Approval from New York’s top financial regulator could strengthen MoonPay’s expansion strategy as it pushes deeper into the U.S. market. The company recently opened its U.S. headquarters in Manhattan’s SoHo district following what it called its “strongest financial performance in history” in 2024. Additionally, MoonPay acquired payment infrastructure firms Iron and Helios to scale its fiat-to-crypto on-off ramp service.