XRP Ledger Shatters Barriers: Launches First MiCA-Compliant Euro Stablecoin
Move over, traditional finance—the XRP Ledger just rewrote the rulebook. Ripple’s blockchain has minted Europe’s first MiCA-regulated euro stablecoin, a direct challenge to the ECB’s sluggish digital currency efforts.
Why it matters: This isn’t just another stablecoin. By complying with the EU’s stringent Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework pre-launch, XRP Ledger outmaneuvers competitors still scrambling for regulatory approval. The euro peg? That’s just the cherry on top for institutions craving stability without the bureaucracy.
The irony? While Brussels debates CBDC designs, private sector innovation just lapped them—again. Watch for liquidity floods as TradFi players finally get their ‘compliant’ crypto on-ramp. Just don’t expect legacy banks to thank Ripple for cutting their lunch.
XRP Ledger And Why MiCA Status Matters
MiCA’s stablecoin provisions—covering e-money tokens (EMT) such as EURØP—took effect on 30 June 2024. They require full 1:1 fiat backing, daily redeemability, bankruptcy-remote reserves and authorisation by an EU regulator. The French ACPR has licensed Schuman Financial as an EMT issuer, while KPMG audits its reserve assets held at Société Générale and other top-tier banks.
Only a handful of issuers have so far cleared MiCA’s bar: Circle’s USDC and EURC, Société Générale’s EURCV, and a dozen niche projects. But EURØP is the first to bring that regulatory pedigree to XRPL, whose native DEX, fast finality and low fees historically attracted IOU-based fiat tokens yet lacked a MiCA-compliant euro coin.
Euro stablecoins represent barely 0.15 % of the $232 billion global stablecoin float—roughly $338 million as of end-April 2025—yet they have become a strategic priority for European banks and fintechs now that MiCA offers a passportable legal framework.
For payment firms and corporate treasurers, EURØP offers a programmable settlement asset that can MOVE in three to five seconds at fractions of a cent while retaining full EU regulatory coverage. Schuman Financial says the token will underpin DeFi lending pools, automated foreign-exchange corridors, and on-chain euro legs for tokenized real-world-asset (RWA) trades—use cases that MiCA expressly contemplates once issuers file a “significant” EMT designation with the European Banking Authority.
Cassie Craddock, Ripple’s Managing Director for UK & Europe, framed the launch as validation of ledger’s enterprise strategy: “The launch of EURØP on the XRP Ledger demonstrates how stablecoins can meet the high standards set by MiCA while unlocking new possibilities for on-chain payments and RWA tokenization.
At press time, XRP traded at $2.43.
