MoonPay launches institutional trading infrastructure

MoonPay said on May 21 it launched MoonPay Trade, a new institutional trading and execution platform aimed at banks, fintechs and enterprises seeking access to tokenized assets, decentralized finance protocols and stablecoin liquidity. The company said the product gives clients a single API to move value across more than 200 blockchains and protocols, extending MoonPay beyond its better-known crypto payments business. The launch came alongside MoonPay’s announcement that it had acquired and integrated Decent.xyz, a cross-chain routing company whose technology now powers the platform. The company said MoonPay Trade will act as the execution layer for MoonPay Institutional, the business unit it launched on April 29 to serve regulated financial-services firms. That unit is led by Caroline D. Pham, Moon Global Markets chief executive and a former acting chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, according to MoonPay. (prnewswire.com) ### What exactly did MoonPay launch? MoonPay described MoonPay Trade as a platform that handles onchain transaction execution, settlement, conversion and payments through one integration. The company said the service is designed for applications, financial institutions and enterprises that want access to fragmented onchain liquidity without building direct connections to multiple chains and protocols themselves. (prnewswire.com) The product supports cross-chain routing and execution across venues and liquidity sources spanning more than 200 chains, including Ethereum, Solana, Base, Hyperliquid and Bitcoin, according to MoonPay’s announcement. The company also said it supports settlement and conversion in more than 120 fiat currencies. (prnewswire.com) ### How does this connect banks to DeFi and tokenization? MoonPay said the platform is built to support tokenized fund subscriptions, collateral movement and onchain settlement. In its April 29 launch of MoonPay Institutional, the company said its infrastructure was intended to give financial institutions, asset managers, trading firms and exchanges access to digital-asset and DeFi services across banking, payments, trading, wealth management and treasury products. (prnewswire.com) Caroline D. Pham said at the time that MoonPay Institutional would provide “a unified technology platform” supporting “any token, any chain, any wallet,” with built-in know-your-customer and compliance tools. MoonPay’s institutional webpage says the offering includes self-hosted key management, on-chain order routing, collateral movement and safekeeping through MoonPay Trust Company, a New York limited purpose trust company under New York State Department of Financial Services oversight. (prnewswire.com) ### What has MoonPay built around this launch? MoonPay said MoonPay Trade is powered by Decent.xyz, the Y Combinator-backed routing company it acquired and integrated as part of the launch. The company said the move follows more than six acquisitions over the past 18 months across payments, stablecoins, custody and onchain trade execution. (moonpay.com) On May 5, MoonPay also announced its acquisition of DFlow, a Solana trading infrastructure provider. MoonPay said DFlow processed more than $12 billion in trading volume in the first quarter of 2026 and that the combination of DFlow and MoonPay Trade extends execution capabilities across EVM, cross-chain and Solana-native markets. ### Why is regulation part of the pitch? (prnewswire.com) MoonPay said its institutional business is aimed at regulated financial-services firms and is backed by compliance infrastructure. The company’s November 2025 announcement said the New York State Department of Financial Services authorized MoonPay Trust Company to provide digital-asset custody and over-the-counter trading, after MoonPay had received a BitLicense in June 2025. (moonpay.com) Ivan Soto-Wright, MoonPay’s co-founder and chief executive, said in the April 29 statement that boards and investors were asking management teams for a digital-asset strategy and that MoonPay Institutional was meant to provide one. In the May 21 launch, MoonPay said Trade now covers “everything in between” the fiat on-ramp and off-ramp, including execution, collateral movement and settlement. (moonpay.com) ### What comes next from here? MoonPay’s institutional site is already live and says firms can request access for direct integration into existing workflows. The company said MoonPay Trade now serves as the execution layer for MoonPay Institutional, with Pham leading the business as MoonPay continues to expand its platform for banks, asset managers, trading firms and exchanges. (moonpay.com 1) (moonpay.com 2)