Bridge, the Stripe-owned stablecoin company, said on July 2, 2026, that it had won dual regulatory approval in Luxembourg: a Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) authorisation under MiCA and an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license. The credentials let Bridge passport stablecoin services across the EU.
Key Takeaways
- Bridge holds both a MiCA CASP authorisation and an EMI license from Luxembourg, extending compliance coverage across all 27 EU member states.
- Businesses can now get named or virtual IBANs and euro accounts that work in every member state through one single integration.
- Companies can issue their own EUR-backed stablecoins for on/off ramps, rewards, or in-app currencies without building separate compliance systems.
- The approval lands just after the MiCA transitional period ended on July 1, 2026, the deadline regulators set for unlicensed crypto firms to exit the EU.
- Bridge already powers stablecoin-linked cards live in 18 countries with Visa, which plans to expand that to over 100 countries by year-end.
What Happened?
Bridge achieved dual regulatory approval in Luxembourg, obtaining both a Crypto-Asset Service Provider authorisation under MiCA and an Electronic Money Institution license, credentials the company says extend compliance coverage throughout the entire EU. A CASP authorisation alone lets a firm custody and trade crypto assets under MiCA’s harmonized rulebook.
It does not let a firm issue e-money or hold client funds in named payment accounts. The EMI license fills that gap. Pairing the two is what turns a crypto license into a payments license, a stack few US-facing exchanges have matched, per SEC Crypto Enforcement Data, since the SEC and CFTC regulate trading and custody but not e-money issuance.
THE BLOCK: Stripe’s stablecoin platform Bridge has secured MiCA and EMI licenses in Luxembourg, allowing it to offer regulated services across all 27 EU member states. pic.twitter.com/Xhr0NJqwnx
— The Block (@TheBlockCo) July 3, 2026
The dual license permits named and virtual IBANs plus euro accounts that function across all 27 member states on a single integration, and lets businesses launch proprietary EUR-backed stablecoins for on/off ramps, rewards programs, or in-app currencies without building their own compliance infrastructure.
Enterprises can also move funds between subsidiaries using custom stablecoins, bypassing traditional correspondent banking, while financial institutions can settle faster and cheaper on stablecoin rails instead of conventional interbank systems.
Mai Leduc Blount, Head of Product at Bridge, framed the change directly:
Why the EMI License Is the Real Unlock?
Most crypto firms operating in the EU hold a MiCA CASP authorisation and stop there. That license covers trading, custody, and transfers of crypto assets. It does not cover the issuance of regulated e-money or the operation of named payment accounts.
The EMI license turns Bridge from a licensed crypto venue into a licensed payments institution, the pairing that lets a client get a named IBAN and issue its own stablecoin under one roof. That stack is closer to what a neobank runs than what a typical exchange runs. It is the harder license to obtain, carrying capital and safeguarding requirements beyond MiCA’s crypto-specific rules.
Both licenses were granted in Luxembourg, extending compliance coverage across all 27 EU member states. That single point-of-entry model, where one national authorisation is meant to carry across the bloc rather than require separate approval in each country, is why multinational firms target Luxembourg, Ireland, or Malta as an MiCA home base rather than filing in every country where they operate.
A Two-Speed Market After the MiCA Cliff
The MiCA transitional period ended on July 1, 2026. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) said in its public statement:
Bridge’s approval landed the same week ESMA told unauthorized providers to exit, capturing MiCA’s two-speed effect: compliant firms are passporting into 27 countries while non-compliant ones wind down. The contrast is not incidental. It is the mechanism MiCA was designed to produce: compliant infrastructure survives regulatory deadlines, unlicensed operators do not.
Stripe Ownership and the Visa Card Push
Stripe announced that it had completed its acquisition of Bridge. Bridge was acquired by Stripe in February 2025 and is described as the leading stablecoin infrastructure platform. The deal put a regulated, bank-grade payments company behind Bridge’s compliance buildout, which is now bearing out in the license stack Bridge just secured.
Bridge-enabled stablecoin-linked cards with Visa are already live in 18 countries, with Visa’s plan to expand that to over 100 countries across Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East by the end of the year. That expansion sits alongside Visa’s broader push into card volume and issuance. That plan named Europe as a target before Bridge held a compliant EU payments license; the Luxembourg approval gives the Visa rollout a regulatory foundation it lacked at announcement.
CoinLaw’s Takeaway
Bridge’s dual license extending compliance coverage across all 27 EU member states is a template, not a one-off filing. A MiCA CASP authorisation gets a firm into the crypto business; pairing it with an EMI license is what lets that firm hold named payment accounts and let clients issue their own euro stablecoins, and few crypto infrastructure firms currently hold both.
The approval also lands at the exact moment MiCA stopped tolerating unlicensed operators, turning Bridge’s timing into a real-world contrast between the compliant and non-compliant sides of the same market.
The effect reaches beyond Bridge. Its Visa card partnership now has a licensed European base rather than a pending one, which matters for any business weighing EUR-denominated stablecoin products on Bridge’s rails. None of this changes how a stablecoin performs as an asset; it changes who is legally allowed to issue and move one across the EU, and under what supervision.
