Ripple wins preliminary MiCA nod, backs Flutterwave for Africa

On June 23 Ripple said Luxembourg’s financial regulator issued a “Green Light Letter” for a crypto-asset service provider license under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regime. The approval is preliminary and subject to final conditions. Ripple plans to combine the MiCA authorization with an existing Luxembourg electronic money institution license to offer fiat, stablecoin and other crypto services across the European Economic Area.

Ripple participated in Flutterwave’s Series E financing round, which valued the African payments company at $3.2 billion. The two firms did not disclose the size of Ripple’s investment. Under the partnership, Flutterwave will add RLUSD, Ripple Payments and the XRP Ledger to its infrastructure. Flutterwave intends to use RLUSD as a settlement asset inside its payment network and the Send App remittance service, and to use the XRPL to clear transactions and link regional systems with Ripple’s international payout network via a single API.

The companies have not provided a launch timetable, projected transaction volumes, initial payment corridors or technical details on converting RLUSD to local currencies. Operational arrangements at conversion points will affect whether on‑ledger settlement lowers costs for businesses, since banks, currency dealers, compliance checks and local liquidity are still required for final payouts.

RLUSD’s market value is about $1.62 billion, with tokens issued on both Ethereum and the XRP Ledger, according to on‑chain data. By comparison, the largest stablecoins have substantially greater circulation. The integration with Flutterwave aims to generate transaction activity from commerce, payroll and remittances rather than relying on exchange liquidity alone.

The partnership targets remittance corridors and high‑volume cross‑border flows in sub‑Saharan Africa. International Monetary Fund data show Nigeria received about $59 billion in crypto inflows between July 2023 and June 2024 and has accounted for roughly 60% of stablecoin inflows into sub‑Saharan Africa since 2019. Households and businesses in the region use dollar‑linked tokens to store value, pay overseas suppliers and receive funds through smartphones and digital wallets. World Bank and IMF figures indicate sending $200 to sub‑Saharan Africa costs about 9% on average, compared with a global average near 6%.

The IMF has warned that broad use of dollar stablecoins can resemble digital dollarization and may weaken domestic monetary policy transmission. Transactions through wallet‑based or offshore platforms can be harder for authorities to monitor than payments routed through banks. Ripple and Flutterwave say placing stablecoin activity inside regulated corporate infrastructure can help address some concerns, but they will need to comply with diverse foreign‑exchange, payments and digital‑asset rules across African markets.

Reece Merrick, Ripple’s managing director for the Middle East and Africa, said the investment will place RLUSD within Flutterwave’s infrastructure and route stablecoin flows through the XRP Ledger. Cassie Craddock, managing director for Ripple in the UK and Europe, added that demand from banks and fintech firms is expanding as institutions explore blockchain‑based payments, collateral management and tokenized assets.