The crypto payment scheme MoonPay was established in 2019 by Victor Faramond and Ivan Soto-Wright. The company offers a comprehensive solution for converting fiat currencies to cryptocurrencies and vice versa, supporting various payment methods, including debit/credit cards, local bank transfers, and mobile payment options. MoonPay operates in over 160 countries and seems to have compliance issues.
The Crypto Payment Shooting Star
Experiencing rapid growth during the recent surge in cryptocurrency interest, MoonPay reported projected net revenues of $150 million in 2021. The company gained significant public attention when Paris Hilton discussed non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on The Tonight Show, mentioning MoonPay in January 2022.
As of January 2024, MoonPay boasts over 5 million customers and is valued at over $3.4 billion. In the 28 days leading up to January 23, 2024, its website attracted nearly 4.5 million visitors who spent an average of over 7 minutes on the site.
MoonPay‘s operations are spread across various legal entities in different jurisdictions. In the U.S., it functions as MoonPay USA LLC, complying with money transmitter or money service business regulations in most states. It’s registered in the UK, Ireland, Italy, and Liechtenstein in Europe as a virtual assets service provider via different legal entities. MoonPay Ltd in Seychelles and MoonPay Ireland are listed as European operators in their terms of service.
Another online gambling scheme, BitStarz (www.bitstarz.com), is also using MoonPay to enable its users to deposit via credit/debit card and crypto. However, BitStarz does not have the authorization to offer its gambling services. It uses the Cyprus-based Friolion Ltd as its payment agent. Evidently, the latter is a merchant served by MoonPay.
Compliance Issues
MoonPay primarily serves high-risk industries, including online gambling and sports betting. Stake.com, a big client, operates under a Curacao license using cryptocurrencies.
Despite these registrations, MoonPay has been linked to processing payments for scams and unauthorized financial services, including dealings with unauthorized crypto exchanges and broker schemes. We found MoonPay as a facilitating payment processor at the unauthorized offshore broker schemes TradeTech Solutions and Oro Markets against regulators have issued warnings.
Read more about Oro Markets and MoonPay here.
These associations raise concerns about the effectiveness of MoonPay‘s KYC/AML procedures. Due to these issues, the CybeRating agency PayRate42 has placed MoonPay on its Orange Compliance List.
FinTelegram is seeking further details about MoonPay, including information on its clients, partners, and activities. We encourage anyone with insights to share this information through our whistleblower system, Whistle42.
