Ripple won preliminary Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) approval from Luxembourg's financial regulator, the CSSF, under the EU's MiCA framework. The so-called 'Green Light Letter' lets Ripple offer regulated crypto-asset services across all 30 countries of the European Economic Area — but the market shrugged: XRP dropped 3% to $1.10, down 5% in 24 hours.
What the approval actually covers
The CASP nod is for Ripple Payments and RLUSD distribution infrastructure. It does not directly authorize XRP trading or listing in Europe. Ripple already holds an EU Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license from Luxembourg. Together, the company says, the two licenses make it fully MiCA-compliant. The commercial pitch: European banks, fintechs, and corporates can run collection, exchange, and payout through a single Ripple integration across the entire EEA.
Late to the party — but arriving
Ripple is not the first mover here. Circle secured its own MiCA approval back in April 2025. B2C2 got a CASP license from the same Luxembourg CSSF in May 2025. Major exchanges including OKX, Coinbase, and Kraken were cleared in 2025. The timing matters because Europe's stablecoin market is already reshuffling. Tether’s USDT was effectively pushed out of the region before MiCA implementation, and exchanges like Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, and Crypto.com removed USDT for EU users after Tether chose not to seek approval.
RLUSD still faces questions
Ripple’s announcement didn't clarify how RLUSD fits under MiCA's non-euro token regime, which caps the use of dollar-pegged stablecoins as a means of exchange in the EU. There's also an additional regulatory hurdle: a California DFAL filing deadline that RLUSD must meet. Meanwhile, Ripple claims over $100 billion in Ripple Payments volume across 60-plus markets and more than 75 licenses globally.
XRP community isn't thrilled
The approval comes at an awkward moment internally. The XRP community publicly pushed back on Ripple's Swell 2026 agenda for prioritizing RLUSD development while XRP itself underperforms. The company now has two birds to feed with one regulatory stone — and the next concrete test will be how RLUSD navigates MiCA's stablecoin restrictions and the California regulator's timeline.
