Stripe-owned stablecoin infrastructure company Bridge has officially entered the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulatory framework, after Luxembourg’s financial supervisor granted it dual authorization. According to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) interim MiCA register updated on August 5, 2026, Bridge Building S.A.—the Luxembourg entity behind Bridge—is now listed as both a Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) and an Electronic Money Token (EMT) issuer. The authorization notification from the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) dates to June 29, 2026.
The CASP license covers custody and administration of crypto-assets, exchange between crypto and fiat, crypto-to-crypto exchange, execution of client orders, and crypto-asset transfer services. In parallel, the Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license permits Bridge to issue, distribute, and redeem electronic money, as well as provide payment services like credit transfers. Together, these approvals allow Bridge to marry regulated crypto services with conventional payment rails, and to passport these services across the entire European Economic Area under MiCA’s single-market provisions.
This regulatory milestone is a key piece of Stripe’s strategy to embed stablecoins deeper into mainstream payments. Bridge will let European businesses combine euro accounts, dedicated IBANs, euro payouts, and stablecoin products through a single API. Companies can even build their own euro-backed stablecoins without independently managing issuance, reserves, or compliance. The arrangement compresses a traditionally fragmented stack—banks for fiat, crypto providers for wallets and conversions, separate issuers, and compliance layers—into one infrastructure layer.
Stripe completed its acquisition of Bridge in February 2025, signaling that the payments giant views stablecoins not as a standalone crypto asset but as a settlement mechanism that can sit behind familiar financial interfaces. The MiCA entry gives Stripe a regulated base to pursue that vision across Europe. Bridge’s model becomes even more powerful when linked with Visa’s stablecoin card program, which is expanding to over 100 countries, offering a path to connect digital-dollar infrastructure with everyday spending.
The latest ESMA register update also added three German cooperative banks as CASPs—Volksbank eG – Die Gestalterbank, VBU Volksbank im Unterland, and VR-Bank Erding—bringing the total distinct authorized CASP names to 324. No new asset-referenced token issuers appeared, underlining the trend of activity concentrating around conventional crypto services and tokens pegged to fiat currencies. For Stripe, Bridge’s dual license places it at the intersection of a regulatory wave that is making stablecoins an increasingly invisible payment rail.
