Ripple has secured preliminary approval for an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license in Luxembourg, giving the company a key regulatory gateway to passport its services across all 27 EU member states under the MiCA framework. Combined with its recent EMI and cryptoasset approvals from the UK’s FCA, Ripple is executing a two-hub European strategy, using London for UK treasury and FX markets while leveraging Luxembourg to access the broader EU Single Market.

The regulatory push is supported by live deployments, including AMINA Bank becoming Ripple Payments’ first European banking customer, using Ripple’s licensed solution for near real-time cross-border transfers. At the same time, Ripple is upgrading the XRP Ledger with compliance-focused features such as Permissioned Domains, designed to make public blockchain infrastructure suitable for institutional use.

While the developments are broadly seen as positive for XRP, the longer-term impact depends on how payment flows are routed. Ripple Payments can use either XRP or stablecoins like RLUSD, creating uncertainty over whether regulatory momentum will drive structural demand for XRP or instead favor a stablecoin-led payments model, with XRP competing where it offers clear cost, speed, or liquidity advantages.