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An important development occurred for XRP, the 4th largest altcoin. The Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) included Ripple, the issuer of XRP, in the list of Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) by recognizing it as an official crypto company outside the US.
Ripple Gains Recognition in Ireland
In a statement made by Ripple, it was stated that the central bank’s subsidiary in Ireland, Ripple Markets Ireland Limited, was added to the current list of VASPs. Thus, Ripple Markets will be able to offer certain digital asset services as a registered VASP in Ireland. The company also stated that “Following the approval, Ripple will start offering services to customers in the European Economic Area after the Crypto Asset Markets Regulation (MiCA) comes into effect at the end of 2024.”
The MiCA directive in the European Union paves the way for the regulation of virtual asset providers operating in the region. Ripple has been operating in the region through its Dublin-based office since 2022.
Ripple’s Expansion Strategy Outside the US
Contrary to popular belief, Ripple did not suffer a heavy blow from the lawsuit filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in December 2020 for allegedly violating federal securities laws and began expanding to various regions outside the US after a major strategy shift. With this aim, the company is trying to obtain a crypto asset company license from the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Eric van Miltenburg, a senior Ripple executive, commented on the company’s expansion strategy, saying “Ireland and, more broadly, the European Union, have increased confidence in the digital assets, payments, and fintech ecosystem by providing regulatory clarity to the sector.”
Ripple successfully obtained a Major Payments Institution License approval from the Singapore central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), at the beginning of June this year. The company also recently received approval from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) for the use of XRP tokens within the Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC) ecosystem. Moreover, Ripple managed to obtain most of the 35 MTL licenses taken by companies providing money transfers, electronic payment services, and service providers in the US in 2023.
