MoonPay agrees to buy North Capital, operator of the PPEX ATS for private and tokenised securities

MoonPay said on 23 September 2026 that it had entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire North Capital Investment Technology, Inc., a Utah-headquartered provider of technology and regulated services for private securities. The deal has not closed: completion is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. The release did not disclose a price.

What MoonPay is buying

According to the joint announcement, North Capital’s operating businesses include:

• North Capital Private Securities Corporation (NCPS). An SEC-registered broker-dealer and FINRA and SIPC member. It is an agency broker and a clearing and carrying firm, and operates PPEX.
• PPEX. An SEC-registered alternative trading system for secondary trading of private and other exempt securities and registered unlisted securities, including digital asset securities.
• North Capital Agency Brokerage, LLC. A second SEC-registered broker-dealer and FINRA and SIPC member.
• North Capital, Inc. An SEC-registered investment adviser.
• A transfer agent. The release describes it as SEC-registered, without naming it.

According to the release, North Capital’s platform supports capital raising, asset management, clearing, custody and secondary trading for exempt securities, including tokenised securities. Its services include investor onboarding, transaction processing and subscription escrow.

The numbers given

The companies said:

• North Capital’s platform has supported more than $8.7bn in primary and secondary transaction volume
• PPEX has more than 1,250 approved assets available for secondary trading

The release does not say over what period the $8.7bn was transacted, or how it splits between primary and secondary activity.

MoonPay describes itself as serving more than 35 million customers in 180 countries and more than 1,500 enterprise clients.

Terms and timing

The boards of both companies approved the deal unanimously. Completion is subject to “the receipt of required regulatory approvals” and the satisfaction or waiver of other customary closing conditions. The release says there can be “no assurance as to whether or when the transaction will be completed”, and it does not name the approvals or give a target closing date. If the deal completes, North Capital will become a wholly owned subsidiary of MoonPay.

MoonPay chief executive Ivan Soto-Wright said the company is “building the regulatory foundation to support mass adoption of tokenized real-world assets”. North Capital founder and chief executive James P. Dowd said North Capital saw “a compelling opportunity to combine our teams and capabilities while continuing to support the clients and partners who have helped build North Capital”.

Why it matters

Analysis.

• Buying a licence stack. PPEX is operated by NCPS, one of North Capital’s broker-dealers. If the deal completes, MoonPay would gain an operating ATS, clearing and carrying capability, transfer agency and advisory registration in one transaction, rather than building each itself.
• Where PPEX sits. PPEX offers secondary trading in private, exempt and registered but unlisted securities, not exchange-listed stocks.
• Tokenisation through existing rules. MoonPay is putting tokenised securities through an existing broker-dealer and ATS structure rather than a crypto-native venue. A transfer agent keeps the record of who owns an issuer’s securities, which gives that function particular weight once the securities are tokenised.

What we are watching

• Which regulatory approvals the deal needs, and when it closes.
• Whether PPEX’s eligible assets expand to tokenised products issued through MoonPay’s platform.

Added 1 Nov 2026 to the Market Structure section; dated to the event, not published at the time.

Sources

• MoonPay to Acquire North Capital and Expand into Onchain Capital Markets, MoonPay (via PR Newswire), 23 Sep 2026
• MoonPay to Acquire North Capital, Expanding into Onchain Capital Markets, MoonPay, 23 Sep 2026