MoonPay to Acquire North Capital

MoonPay Inc, the crypto payments platform, has entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire North Capital Investment Technology, Inc., as reported by FX News Group yesterday. Once completed, North Capital will become a wholly owned subsidiary of MoonPay, adding North Capital’s securities brokerage and investment advisory operations to MoonPay’s broader financial infrastructure platform.

North Capital combines API-first technology with regulated brokerage services, providing capital raising, asset management, clearing, custody and secondary trading of exempt securities, including tokenised securities, to issuers, intermediaries, fund managers and investors. Its operating businesses hold SEC-registered broker-dealer, ATS, transfer agent and investment adviser licences, and its platform has supported more than $8.7bn in primary and secondary transaction volume. Secondary trading runs through PPEX, North Capital’s registered ATS, which lists more than 1,250 approved assets.

For compliance and business development staff at regulated brokers and liquidity providers dealing with MoonPay, this is worth watching for its potential effect on the counterparty picture: a crypto-native payments firm would sit behind those same licences, a combination that could have implications for the risk profile and competitive position of tokenised-securities venues once the deal completes.

Ivan Soto-Wright, chief executive and founder of MoonPay, framed the deal as extending the firm’s regulatory reach into tokenised real-world assets.

All financial markets are becoming more technology-driven, but the infrastructure supporting them is still fragmented across different tech stacks, providers, and workflows. This is especially true in securities markets, where North Capital has developed a differentiated combination of technology, regulatory capabilities and market infrastructure. At MoonPay, we’re building the regulatory foundation to support mass adoption of tokenized real-world assets. We believe bringing those capabilities into the MoonPay ecosystem can help connect different parts of the financial system through modern, programmable infrastructure.

Ivan Soto-Wright, MoonPay

James P. Dowd, founder and chief executive of North Capital, said the deal combines the two firms’ teams and capabilities while preserving continuity for North Capital’s existing clients and partners. He added that it builds on MoonPay’s scale and ambitions for the future of value transfers across financial markets.

The boards of directors of both companies unanimously approved the transaction, which has not yet closed. Completion remains subject to required regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, and neither firm has disclosed financial terms or an expected closing date.