Ripple is set to secure an Australian Financial Services License (AFSL).
The San Francisco-based enterprise blockchain firm announced Wednesday that it will acquire BC Payments Australia Pty, which is a corporate entity tied to the European Banking Circle Group.
The acquisition allows Ripple to inherit the firm's highly coveted AFSL.
The high-profile deal is expected to officially close in April 2026, the announcement says.
The AFSL allows Ripple’s payments division to act as a comprehensive, one-stop financial custodian.
The company will now be legally cleared to manage the entire lifecycle of a cross-border transaction within Australia: from customer onboarding and regulatory compliance to liquidity management and final fiat payout.
This will make it possible for entrepreneurs to bypass the rather fragmented patchwork of correspondent banks and third-party intermediaries.
The company's APAC payment volume experienced a two-fold increase in 2025 with a growing list of partners.
Ripple's regulatory moat
Ripple has now managed to build a massive compliance moat. The company now boasts over 75 regulatory licenses and money transmitter approvals worldwide.
In early 2026, Ripple secured a dual victory in Europe. In January, the firm obtained a key license from the U.K.’s stringent Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Just weeks later, the San Francisco-headquartered company bagged a full EMI license from Luxembourg’s financial watchdog, the CSSF. This vital Luxembourg license allows Ripple to "passport" its blockchain payment services across all 30 countries in the European Economic Area.
Ripple has established a dominant foothold in the United Arab Emirates. In March 2025, the company made history by becoming the first blockchain-enabled payments provider to receive a full regulatory license in Dubai.
The firm has also secured conditional approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish the Ripple National Trust Bank (RNTB), which is an exceptionally rare federal charter for a crypto-centric enterprise.
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov
