MoonPay to put down roots in NYC with new US headquarters — leading to predicted crypto real estate boom
Crypto continues to stake its claim in the financial capital of the world.
MoonPay, the global leader in crypto payments, is opening a new 5,000-plus square-foot U.S. headquarters in SoHo, NYNext can exclusively report. With the move, the company becomes the latest digital currency firm to expand its presence in NYC.
4 MoonPay's new headquarters is a 5,000-plus square-foot space in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood. It is the company's largest U.S. office to date and will serve as a central hub for its growing U.S. workforce.
MoonPay
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'As the crypto landscape continues to evolve, New York stands out as a beacon of opportunity that blends regulatory progress, a dynamic business environment and an unparalleled talent pool,' Keith A. Grossman, President of Enterprise at MoonPay and a lifelong New Yorker, told NY Next.
The confluence of those factors — further emboldened by President Trump's deregulation efforts — means that even more digital asset companies are likely to set down roots in the city in the coming months and years.
'The crypto industry is playing a pivotal role in driving New York City's economic growth — serving as an engine for job creation, accelerating innovation, and attracting investment,' Grossman said. 'With over 130 crypto firms operating in the city, New York is further cemented as a global financial capital and a leading hub for fintech transformation.'
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It's a marked shift from a decade ago.
Crypto firms vehemently avoided New York after BitLicense — which imposed strict regulations on businesses' abilities to buy, sell, transmit and store crypto — went into effect in 2015.
4 The MoonPay app allows users to easily buy, sell and transfer cryptocurrencies and NFTs using traditional payment methods like credit cards, Apple Pay and bank transfers.
@crownmax/X
While the licenses were meant to protect consumers, many firms saw the framework as overly burdensome and headed to more hospitable cities. When MoonPay launched in 2019, its founders opted to base the company in Miami.
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The tides in New York began to shift around the turn of the decade. Mayor Eric Adams, elected in 2021, has openly embraced crypto,saying he wanted to make NYC the 'center of bitcoins.'
Though the BitLicense framework remains firm, his administration has focused the conversation on innovation and economic opportunity, rather than compliance and consumer protection.
4 MoonPay CEO Ivan Soto-Wright speaks during the FII Priority Summit in Miami Beach, Florida. Soto-Wright has played an active role in shaping crypto regulation, joining policymakers at the CFTC's Crypto CEO Forum and advocating in Congress for state-level innovation on stablecoins.
AFP via Getty Images
As a result, in the past several years, major firms including Coinbase, Gemini, Consensys, and Chainalysis have entered or expanded their New York City footprints.
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'It's an ideal hub for companies like MoonPay to scale and help shape the future of crypto innovation in the U.S,' Grossman said.
4 U.S. President Donald Trump (L) shakes hands with Paul Atkins, newly sworn-in as Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in the Oval Office of the White House. Under Atkins, the SEC has dropped legal proceedings against major cryptocurrency platforms like Coinbase and Kraken that were initiated during former president Joe Biden's term.
AFP via Getty Images
Earlier this year, MoonPay CEO Ivan Soto-Wright joined executives from Coinbase, Ripple, and Circle at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Crypto CEO Forum in Washington, DC, to hash out the next chapter of federal crypto oversight.
Then, in mid-April, Soto-Wright penned a letter to Congress supporting amendments to the STABLE and GENIUS Acts, backing state-level regulation for stablecoin issuers and warning against legislation that could sideline local innovators.
Crypto markets have soared during Donald Trump's first months in office.
This story is part of NYNext, an indispensable insider insight into the innovations, moonshots and political chess moves that matter most to NYC's power players (and those who aspire to be).
After having its best year ever in 2024, MoonPay saw its transaction volume increase 123% and net revenue jump nearly 50% in the first quarter of 2025.
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Grossman told NY Next, 'We could not be more thrilled to establish our U.S. headquarters in this great city as our country continues to establish more clarity surrounding regulatory, legislative, banking and accounting activity within the crypto ecosystem.
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