Latin American Crypto Services Firm Ripio Receives License to Launch Exchange in Spain

Ripio has obtained a license to operate as a digital asset exchange in Spain. According to an official announcement, the company has now received approval to provide crypto exchange services and digital wallets to interested customers.

Ripio CEO Sebastian Serrano said in a do This is the result of hard work of the approval team. With the license, Ripio joins the few crypto companies officially flagged by the Bank of Spain to provide crypto services. Other licensed firms include Crypto.com, BVNK, Bitpanda and Bitstamp.

Ripio records $200 million worth of transactions every month among its 8 million users. In addition to Spain, the company operates in the United States, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay and Brazil.

Ripio expansion outside Spain

last august, ripio launched Prepaid crypto card for users in Brazil. The company partnered with the international payments giant Visa (NYSE:V) will launch cards with support for 28 cryptocurrencies. The card also offers users cashback rewards in crypto. At the time, Ripio said it would launch 250,000 cards before the end of the year.

As part of its expansion plans, Ripio hopes to receive operating licenses in several Latin American countries before the end of 2023. The company is eyeing Paraguay, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru.

In March, Latin American e-commerce giant Mercado Libre (NASDAQ: MELI) launched Crypto support in collaboration with Ripio. Following the launch, users in Chile will be able to save or trade bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) with their Mercado Pago wallet. This feature also brings about a low entry barrier, as users only need 50 Chilean pesos (about 6 cents) to start trading. According to Osvaldo Jimenez, president of Mercado Libre, the company hopes to eliminate crypto access barriers by making app operations as simple as possible. This way, all interested individuals, regardless of crypto knowledge or experience, can buy, sell, and save crypto.

Last November, Ripio announced its expansion to the US. The company began operations after obtaining a license from the Florida Office of Financial Regulation to provide exchange and custodial wallet services to users. Ripio also announced business-to-business B2B integration plans with companies interested in crypto-powered solutions.

Ripio’s B2B blockchain

ripio partnered with polygon in February to support blockchain adoption in Latin America. The partnership between the two companies allows Ripio to incorporate its products on the Polygon Network as it develops B2B blockchains.

Serrano said it aims to improve crypto, blockchain and Web3 access. According to the CEO:

“We are committed to our users and we want to facilitate access to the crypto world for as many people and institutions as possible every day. We want to simplify access to Web3, which will undoubtedly be the future.”

Headquartered in Argentina, Ripio has raised $50 million in a 2021 funding round led by Digital Currency Group (DCG). Ripio said the funding was primarily for expansion into new countries. In addition to DCG, the funding round also secured participation from popular bitcoin investor Tim Draper and Mercado Libre CEO Marcos Galperin. The others were Globant CEO Martin Migoya and Robinhood investor Amplo.

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Tolu is a cryptocurrency and blockchain enthusiast based in Lagos. He likes to strip the mysteries of crypto stories down to the basics so that anyone anywhere can understand without a lot of background knowledge. When Tolu is not deeply immersed in crypto stories, he enjoys music, loves to sing and is an avid movie lover.