Ripple acquires UK approvals to expand payments business

Ripple will expand its payments business in the UK after securing key approvals from the country’s top financial regulator.

The company behind the XRP cryptocurrency said on Friday it had secured an Electronic Money Institution licence and Cryptoasset Registration from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority.

“These permissions allow Ripple to expand its licenced payments platform, giving UK institutions the ability to send cross-border payments,” the company said in a news release.

London has long been home to Ripple’s largest office outside the US, and the company grew its headcount there over the past year, it said.

“Extending Ripple’s licensing portfolio and payments solution is about more than just efficiency,” Ripple President Monica Long said in a statement. “It is about unlocking trillions in dormant capital and realising a world where value moves instantaneously.”

The approvals come as the UK begins the process of revamping its crypto regulations.

Crypto companies have long had to register directly with the FCA before operating in the country. But a new regulatory regime proposed in December would largely treat crypto like the asset classes that preceded it.

“We want the UK to be at the top of the list for cryptoassets firms looking to grow,” Lucy Rigby, economic secretary to the Treasury, said in December.

The rules are expected to be ready by the middle of next year and enacted by 2027, and will likely follow the outlines of a government memo issued in April.

The UK has historically been highly cautious of the volatile industry. That changed in 2025 as the US warmed to the sector and lobbied UK politicians to do the same.

In September, UK finance minister Rachel Reeves and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent established the Transatlantic Taskforce for Markets of the Future, which aims to enhance collaboration on capital markets, digital assets, and other financial activities.

Ripple had a banner year in 2025. The company announced a $500 million strategic investment that valued it at $40 billion, and it went on a buying spree, spending more than $2.4 billion billion to purchase at least four companies.

But CEO Brad Garlinghouse said Ripple would likely slow its “acquisition binge” in 2026.

Aleks Gilbert is DL News’ New York-based DeFi correspondent. You can reach him at aleks@dlnews.com.