Spain gives Ripio greenlight to offer crypto products
Spain is gradually welcoming more crypto firms, most recently Crypto.com
cgstock/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks
Crypto exchange Ripio has been approved to operate in Spain, a move that follows competitors including Bit2Me and Bitpanda gaining regulatory approval to set up shop within the country.
After the Markets in Crypto Assets billwas passed in April, Spain has moved to set itself up as a hub for digital asset companies.The Bank of Spain most recently granted Crypto.com a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license.
To obtain a VASP license, companies must undergo a number of prerequisites. Among them are several documents, including a currency exchange registration form, a custody service registration form, and a risk analysis. Applicants must also provide a manual for preventing money laundering and terrorist financing.
Ripio CEO Sebastián Serrano disclosed the development on Twitter Tuesday, saying the company could now offer its services to Spanish customers. In addition to an exchange, Ripio also offers crypto products including a Web3 wallet.
Ripio was founded in 2013 and has over 8 million retail users across Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Uruguay, Spain and the US, according to itswebsite. The company has locked down over 1,000 institutional clients.
It has a suite of different products, including a trading platform. It also offers a crypto wallet and that pairs with a debit card. Essentially, the card can pay for items with the wallet’s balance, and after transactions are made it offers cashback in the form of USDC.
Over seventy firms are registered as virtual currency and e-wallet service providers through the Bank of Spain,including Binance. Binance operates in the country through a subsidiary.
Ripio representatives did not immediately return a request for comment.
Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:
- The Breakdown: Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily.
- 0xResearch: Alpha in your inbox. Think like an analyst.
Upcoming Events
Tues - Thurs, March 24 - 26, 2026
Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.
recent research
Research
HIP-3 is scaling Hyperliquid beyond crypto, with TradFi instruments now 31% of venue volume and daily notional above $5B. Silver is the most important of these flows, and last Friday’s violent move gives a stress test of HIP-3 market health. Using high-frequency trade/quote/order-book data and benchmarking against CME/COMEX Micro Silver futures, we find that for smaller, retail-weighted clips HIP-3 Silver delivered tighter pre-crash spreads and better execution. Finally, we present a novel 24/7 use case: positioning and pricing into the Sunday reopening auction.
Breaking headlines across our core coverage categories.
BTC finished the week up 1.6%, while L2s, RWAs and the treasury trade continued to grind lower
DTCC moves DTC-custodied Treasuries onchain via Canton, while Lighter’s LIT launches trading at a fees multiple in Hyperliquid territory
In the 90s, rapt audiences worldwide watched a coffee pot — will that fascination ever turn to crypto?
Yield Basis introduces an IL-free AMM design that already dominates BTC DEX liquidity
Maybe tokenholders don’t need the rights that corporate shareholders have come to expect