Ripple Receives Green Light for e-money License in Luxembourg
- Ripple pursues MiCA and CASP licenses to align fully with EU crypto regulatory standards.
- The company now holds over 75 licenses, spanning the US, EU, Asia, and the Middle East.
- Ripple pursues MiCA and CASP status as part of a global push for licensed crypto services.
Ripple has secured early approval for an Electronic Money Institution license in Luxembourg. This marks a key step in its plan to expand regulated blockchain payments across Europe. The decision came from the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier, which issued an initial clearance that moves the company closer to serving financial institutions across the European Union under a single framework.
In a press release, Ripple said the Luxembourg approval strengthens its cross-border payments setup in the region. The preliminary authorization allows the firm to advance through the remaining stages of the licensing process.
Path to EU Payments License
The regulator’s “Green Light Letter” confirms that Ripple has met the initial regulatory conditions tied to the EMI process. With that confirmation, the firm can now work toward securing full authorization. Once complete, Ripple would be able to provide regulated end-to-end payment services to clients across EU markets.
Ripple linked the progress in Luxembourg to its broader effort to upgrade payment infrastructure. Its platform is designed to support payments that run continuously rather than in restricted daily batches.
Monica Long, president of Ripple, said Europe’s regulatory progress has played an important role in that shift. She noted that the European Union was among the first major jurisdictions to introduce a comprehensive framework for digital assets. According to Long, that clarity has helped financial institutions consider blockchain for large-scale deployment rather than small-scale pilots.
Long added that Ripple’s payments platform is built to handle the complete flow of value for its users. That structure is aimed at releasing capital that remains tied up in traditional settlement channels. The company views this capability as an advantage when working with institutions that manage high volumes of cross-border transactions.
Related: Ripple Launches $1B SPAC Plan to Strengthen XRP Liquidity
Cassie Craddock, managing director for the United Kingdom and Europe, highlighted Luxembourg’s rise as a center for financial innovation. She said that trend has made the country attractive for firms that are building regulated blockchain infrastructure. Ripple is using the location as a launch point for reaching customers in the wider European market.
The Luxembourg development follows several other regulatory milestones for Ripple. The company previously received authorization from the UK Financial Conduct Authority. It also obtained approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore to expand payment services in Asia, which it expects will support the use of its stablecoin offering in the Asia-Pacific region.
MiCA Compliance
Ripple is now seeking authorization under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework. The company aims to secure a crypto asset service provider license to align fully with MiCA rules. It expects that status to support long-term operations across EU member states.
According to Ripple, the latest approvals add to a portfolio of more than 75 regulatory authorizations worldwide. Those include money transmitter licenses in forty-three US states and territories, as well as permissions in Singapore, Dubai, and the Cayman Islands. Some authorizations were obtained through acquired entities such as Layer2 Financial and Hidden Road.
Ripple has also expanded in the United Arab Emirates. The company entered the UAE market after receiving clearance from Dubai’s Financial Services Authority to offer payment services. It views Dubai as a major international hub that supports cross-border financial activity.
In a related regulatory development from the broader digital asset sector, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced that it had conditionally approved five national trust bank charter applications.
Firms named in that announcement included BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos. The new charters will join a group of around sixty national trust banks overseen by the federal banking regulator.
