MoonPay agrees to buy North Capital, adding a US broker-dealer, trading venue and transfer agent to its tokenisation business
Updated: Oct 7
MoonPay, the payments company that lets crypto exchanges and wallets take card payments, has agreed to buy North Capital Investment Technology, a Utah firm whose value sits almost entirely in four registrations it holds with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The two companies announced a definitive merger agreement on 23 September 2026. North Capital becomes a wholly owned subsidiary once regulators sign the deal off.
What MoonPay is buying is permission. North Capital holds SEC-registered broker-dealers, an SEC-registered alternative trading system, an SEC-registered transfer agent and an SEC-registered investment adviser. A broker-dealer may take orders and hold client securities. An alternative trading system is a venue where securities change hands away from a national exchange. A transfer agent keeps the official record of who owns a company's shares. An investment adviser may charge for advice on those securities. Each is a separate application, a separate examination and, in practice, a separate wait measured in years.
The venue is called PPEX. The announcement says it hosts more than 1,250 approved assets for secondary trading, and that North Capital's platform has supported $8.7bn of primary and secondary transaction volume. The firm also runs investor onboarding, transaction processing, subscription escrow and custody, through three operating entities: North Capital Private Securities Corporation, North Capital Agency Brokerage LLC and North Capital Inc.
MoonPay was founded in 2019 and says it serves more than 35 million customers across 180 countries and more than 1,500 enterprise clients, with licences in the United States and the European Union. Ivan Soto-Wright, its co-founder and chief executive, said in the release that financial markets are becoming more technology driven while the infrastructure underneath them stays fragmented. Talking to Fortune the same day he was blunter, saying the company is "building the regulatory foundation to support mass adoption of tokenized real-world assets". James P. Dowd, North Capital's founder and chief executive, said his firm was set up to bring access and liquidity to private markets.
Neither company disclosed a price. Fortune reported an all-stock deal worth more than $60m, and Ledger Insights carried the same figure. Both boards approved the agreement unanimously. The release sets no closing date and names no regulator, saying only that the transaction needs required regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
The conflict nobody has answered
There is a complication in the wiring. North Capital co-founded Agora with tZERO, a network that links alternative trading systems so qualified institutional participants can find and route orders across venues instead of being stuck inside one. Agora routed its first order in July 2026. Ledger Insights pointed out on 23 September that MoonPay would end up owning one of the two founding venues while also running routing and payment infrastructure around it, which leaves the governance of a shared network with an owner on one side of it unresolved. The announcement does not address it.
The deal fits a pattern that has been running all month. The parent of the New York Stock Exchange announced a tZERO partnership for tokenised securities infrastructure on 31 August 2026, and on 23 September the exchange agreed to distribute tokenised New York listings through a crypto platform. The scarce asset in each case is the licence, not the ledger.
Nothing in it reaches a UK share register
For a British founder the useful part of this transaction is what it does not contain. The release does not mention the United Kingdom, Europe or the Financial Conduct Authority. Every registration being acquired is American, and none of them carries any standing over a UK company's shares. A US transfer agent cannot keep the register that Companies House recognises, and a US alternative trading system cannot admit a UK private company's shares for UK investors without UK permissions that this deal does not supply.
That gap is worth watching rather than shrugging at. The American stack is being assembled quickly, in public, by companies that already have consumer distribution. No UK regulator has been asked to approve an equivalent bundle of venue, registrar and dealing permissions for tokenised private company shares, and neither the FCA nor the Bank of England has said whether it would authorise a single firm to hold all of them. Until somebody puts that question formally, the shortest route from a private UK cap table to a tradeable tokenised share runs through another country's rulebook.
How we got here
The North Capital deal is the latest in a run of acquisitions that has moved MoonPay away from its original business of letting people buy crypto with a card. In 2025 it bought Helio, a Solana based payments firm, and Iron, a German stablecoin infrastructure company, and on 15 September 2025 it announced the purchase of Meso, a crypto payments start-up, without disclosing terms. Each of those deals added payments or stablecoin capability. North Capital is different in kind, because it adds securities permissions.
North Capital had itself been moving towards tokenised markets. Fortune reports that it offers back end brokerage services and tools to tokenise debt, equity and other assets, and that earlier in 2026 it launched an initiative with tZERO to offer tokenised assets on alternative trading systems. Fortune also notes that Robinhood and Kraken have expanded their tokenised securities offerings, and that the SEC has said companies can offer tokenised stocks under an innovators exemption.
What it means for UK founders
The nearest UK counterpart to what MoonPay is buying is not a single licence. A UK private company that wants its shares traded at set intervals would look to PISCES, the FCA sandbox for private company share trading. Only a recognised investment exchange, or a UK firm with Part 4A permission to arrange deals in investments or to operate a multilateral or organised trading facility, can run a PISCES platform. Each operator also needs a PISCES approval notice from the FCA and must hold at least £150,000 in capital at all times.
The sandbox opened in June 2025 and runs until June 2030, after which the FCA and the Treasury will decide whether to make it permanent. That fixed horizon matters when founders compare routes. A UK platform built today is building for a regime whose long term form is not yet settled, while the US stack MoonPay is assembling rests on established registrations. Founders weighing either route may want to take professional advice, particularly where tokenised shares could be offered to investors in more than one country.
Key facts at a glance
23 September 2026: definitive merger agreement announced.
Reported price: more than 60 million dollars, all stock, according to a person familiar with the deal quoted by Fortune.
SEC registrations acquired: broker-dealer, alternative trading system, transfer agent and investment adviser.
Earlier MoonPay deals: Helio and Iron in 2025, and Meso, announced on 15 September 2025.
UK comparison: PISCES operators need FCA approval and at least £150,000 in capital, and the sandbox runs to June 2030.
Further reading
Frequently asked questions
What is MoonPay buying in the North Capital acquisition?
MoonPay is buying North Capital Investment Technology, a Utah firm whose main assets are four SEC registrations: broker-dealers, an alternative trading system, a transfer agent and an investment adviser. The companies announced a definitive merger agreement on 23 September 2026.
How much is MoonPay paying for North Capital?
Neither company disclosed a price. Fortune and Ledger Insights both reported an all-stock deal worth more than 60 million dollars, and the deal still needs regulatory approvals.
What is North Capital's PPEX trading venue?
PPEX is North Capital's SEC-registered alternative trading system. According to the announcement, it hosts more than 1,250 approved assets for secondary trading, and North Capital's platform has supported 8.7 billion dollars of transaction volume.
What governance question does the MoonPay deal raise for the Agora network?
North Capital co-founded Agora with tZERO, a network that routes orders across alternative trading systems. MoonPay would own one of the two founding venues while running routing and payment infrastructure around it, a governance question neither company has answered.
Do North Capital's SEC registrations apply to UK company shares?
No. Every registration being acquired is American and none carries standing over a UK company's shares. A US transfer agent cannot keep the register Companies House recognises, and no UK regulator has been asked to approve an equivalent set of permissions.
This is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice.
Key takeaways
MoonPay agreed on 23 September 2026 to acquire North Capital, whose main assets are four US Securities and Exchange Commission registrations: broker-dealers, an alternative trading system, a transfer agent and an investment adviser.
The price was not disclosed by either company. Fortune and Ledger Insights both reported an all-stock deal worth more than 60 million dollars.
North Capital's PPEX venue lists more than 1,250 approved assets for secondary trading and the platform has supported 8.7 billion dollars of transaction volume.
MoonPay would own one of the two alternative trading systems that founded the Agora routing network with tZERO, which raises a governance question neither company has answered.
None of the permissions being bought applies to a UK company's shares, and no UK regulator has been asked to approve an equivalent set.
Sources
MoonPay and North Capital, "MoonPay to Acquire North Capital and Expand into Onchain Capital Markets", PR Newswire, 23 September 2026. Fortune, "MoonPay eyes tokenized securities push with $60 million acquisition of brokerage firm North Capital", 23 September 2026. Ledger Insights, "MoonPay buys North Capital, including ATS for tokenized securities", 23 September 2026. The Block, tokenization news index, accessed 25 September 2026.
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