MoonPay to acquire SEC-registered North Capital in $60 million all-stock deal - CoinDesk

MoonPay has agreed to acquire North Capital, an SEC-registered broker-dealer and transfer agent, in an all-stock deal valued at $60 million, according to CoinDesk. The transaction stands out less for its size than for what it buys: regulated infrastructure. North Capital's registrations allow it to operate in areas such as securities brokerage and transfer agency services — activities that fall squarely under U.S. securities rules rather than the lighter-touch framework often applied to crypto payments.

For a crypto payments company, owning a registered broker-dealer and transfer agent could matter in several ways. It may support tokenized real-world assets, secondary transfers, and other securities-related products that require regulated entities to touch the transaction chain. Rather than relying entirely on partners for those functions, MoonPay would bring key capabilities in-house, which can simplify compliance and product design.

What to watch: whether the deal closes and on what timeline, how MoonPay integrates North Capital's licenses and staff, and whether competitors pursue similar acquisitions of regulated U.S. market infrastructure. The deal also signals continued convergence between crypto firms and traditional securities plumbing — a trend worth tracking regardless of price moves.