Ripple secures full EU e-money license in Luxembourg

What to know

• Ripple has received full authorization for an Electronic Money Institution license from Luxembourg's financial regulator, allowing it to scale regulated payment services across the European Union.
• The company says the Luxembourg license will help accelerate its Ripple Payments cross-border product for banks, fintechs and enterprises throughout the bloc.
• Ripple's global license count has now surpassed 75, following recent approvals in the United Kingdom, underscoring its push to operate as a heavily regulated crypto and payments provider.

Ripple said Monday it had received full approval of an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license from Luxembourg’s financial regulator, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF), a step that would let the company scale regulated payments services across the European Union.

Ripple announced “preliminary” approval last month and has since met all conditions required by the CSSF, which has now granted final authorization.

"Europe has always been a strategic priority for us, and this authorization allows us to scale our mission of providing robust, compliant blockchain infrastructure to clients across the EU," Cassie Craddock, Managing Director, UK & Europe at Ripple, said.

"We are now better positioned than ever to help European businesses transition into a more efficient, digital-first financial era," he added.

The move builds on Ripple’s recent regulatory push in Europe. The company said it received an EMI license and cryptoasset registration from the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) last month, adding to a growing set of permissions for operating payments and crypto-related services in key jurisdictions.

Ripple framed the Luxembourg license as a lever to accelerate “Ripple Payments” across the EU — its cross-border payments product aimed at banks, fintechs and enterprise clients.

Luxembourg is commonly used as a base for regulated financial services across the EU, though Ripple did not detail how quickly it expects to roll out services or which member states are first in line.

Ripple also said its global license count has grown to more than 75, positioning it as one of the more heavily licensed companies in crypto as the industry shifts toward regulated, institution-facing use cases.