Ripple, the blockchain company behind the XRP Ledger, is on track to obtain regulatory approval in the European Union (EU) through a license in Luxembourg.
The San Francisco, California-based company has received a preliminary green light for a Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) license from the country’s Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) under the EU’s Crypto Asset Markets (MiCA) regulation, Ripple said on Tuesday.
According to the announcement, a license would allow Ripple to offer its stablecoin payment systems to European businesses and expand into broader crypto features.
MiCA allows companies that receive approval in one EU state to offer cryptocurrency services across the bloc.
The regime was one of the first comprehensive regulatory frameworks for cryptocurrencies in a major market when it became law in 2023, but this year there have been signs that the honeymoon period is coming to an end. The European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, opened a consultation last month to assess whether MiCA is still fit for purpose.
Among concerns about MiCA’s shortcomings are criticism of stablecoin rules, related to a blanket ban on offering interest and reserve requirements that require issuers to hold up to 60% of backing assets in cash deposits at commercial banks.
