Ripple to Expand Payments Offering Across APAC With Australian Financial Services License

Ripple is moving to secure an Australian Financial Services License (AFSL) by acquiring BC Payments Australia Pty Ltd, giving the blockchain payments company a direct regulatory foothold in one of the Asia Pacific region's most active fintech markets. The move will allow Ripple to offer its full payments stack in Australia under a single, locally regulated platform.

What Is an AFSL and Why Does It Matter for Ripple?

An Australian Financial Services License is issued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and is required for companies that provide financial services in Australia. Rather than applying for one from scratch, Ripple is taking the faster route of acquiring BC Payments Australia Pty Ltd, a company that already holds the license. The acquisition is still subject to the standard completion process and has not yet closed.

Once in place, the AFSL will let Ripple manage the full lifecycle of a cross-border payment transaction through its Ripple Payments platform. That includes customer onboarding, compliance checks, funding, foreign exchange, liquidity management, and final payout. Both traditional banking rails and digital assets are integrated into this flow, and customers connect through a single integration rather than coordinating with multiple intermediaries.

"Licensing is fundamental to Ripple's strategy, ensuring we can deliver secure, compliant solutions to customers worldwide," said Fiona Murray, Managing Director for Asia Pacific at Ripple. "Australia is a key market for Ripple, and an AFSL strengthens our ability to scale Ripple Payments across the region."

How Ripple Payments Works in Practice

Ripple Payments is designed for financial institutions, fintechs, and enterprises that need to move money across borders. The platform handles the technical and compliance layers so that customers do not need to interact directly with the underlying blockchain technology.

With the AFSL in place, Ripple will be able to:

• Directly oversee settlement and transaction routing within Australia
• Connect customers to local payout partners without additional third-party arrangements
• Reduce counterparty risk by consolidating the payment chain under one regulated entity
• Optimize transaction routing to improve speed and transparency

Several Australian businesses are already using Ripple Payments: Hai Ha Money Transfer, Novatti Group, Stables, Caleb & Brown, Flash Payments, and Independent Reserve. These customers currently rely on the platform for cross-border transfers, and the AFSL is intended to deepen that relationship through direct local oversight.

Does Ripple's APAC Growth Justify the Licensing Push?

Ripple reported that its APAC payments volume nearly doubled year-on-year in 2025, though it has not disclosed specific figures. That growth puts pressure on the company to have stronger local regulatory infrastructure in place.

Ripple now holds more than 75 regulatory licences globally, which puts it among the most licensed companies operating in the crypto and digital assets sector. Few other firms in the space come close to that level of regulated coverage across multiple jurisdictions.

Participation in Project Acacia

Ripple is also participating in Project Acacia, an initiative led by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC). The project focuses on developing digital asset infrastructure within Australia's financial system. Ripple's involvement signals it is positioning itself as an institutional partner for regulators, not just a product vendor.

Ripple Prime: Institutional Brokerage and Futures Access

Beyond the AFSL news, Ripple has been expanding its institutional services through Ripple Prime, its prime brokerage arm. Ripple Prime was built on the acquisition of Hidden Road Partners CIV US LLC, a futures commission merchant (FCM) registered with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Ripple paid $1.25 billion for that acquisition, and Hidden Road was subsequently rebranded as Ripple Prime.

An FCM is a firm authorized to accept customer funds for trading futures contracts under CFTC oversight. Ripple Prime cleared more than $3 trillion in volume during 2025 and offers multi-asset brokerage, clearing, and financing services.

What Futures Contracts Are Now Available on Ripple Prime?

Ripple recently added Coinbase Derivatives futures contracts to Ripple Prime, giving institutional clients access to regulated crypto futures cleared through Nodal Clear. The available contracts include:

• Nano Bitcoin (BIT) futures
• Nano Ethereum (ETH) futures
• Solana (SOL) futures in both institutional and nano sizes
• XRP futures in both institutional and nano sizes
• Traditional futures contracts for cryptocurrencies and commodities
• U.S. perpetual-style futures

Nano contracts are smaller-sized versions of standard futures. A nano Bitcoin contract, for example, represents a fraction of a full Bitcoin futures contract, which reduces the capital needed to enter a position. This makes the contracts accessible to a broader set of trading desks without requiring the same margin as a full-sized institutional contract. All contracts trade 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Why Institutional Demand for Regulated Crypto Futures Is Rising

Futures contracts allow traders to gain exposure to price movements or hedge existing positions without holding the underlying tokens directly. For institutions operating under strict compliance requirements, that distinction is significant because it removes the need to hold crypto assets on a balance sheet while still accessing the market.

The CFTC-regulated environment is a central part of the appeal. Unlike offshore or unregulated derivatives venues, CFTC oversight brings standardized reporting, centralized clearing, and established rules for margin and default procedures. Many institutional trading desks require this framework before they can participate in a market at all.

Last week, Ripple also announced managed custody, virtual account collections, and stablecoin settlement capabilities across 60 markets, reporting $100 billion in total processed volume.

Conclusion

Ripple's push for an Australian Financial Services License reflects a consistent pattern: the company is expanding regulated infrastructure before scaling commercial operations. With more than 75 licences globally, an established customer base in Australia, and APAC payments volume that nearly doubled in 2025, the AFSL fills a specific gap in its ability to manage transactions end-to-end under local oversight. The acquisition of BC Payments Australia is still pending, so the timeline remains open, but the direction is clear. Between Ripple Payments targeting cross-border settlement and Ripple Prime serving institutional futures trading, the company is building out both sides of its business within regulated frameworks rather than around them.

Resources 

1. Press release by Ripple: Ripple to Secure Australian Financial Services License, Expanding Payments Offering Across APAC

2. Report by CoinDesk: Ripple to acquire Australian financial services license as APAC payments volume doubles

3. Press release by Coinbase and Ripple: Ripple Offers Clients Access to Coinbase Derivatives Contracts Cleared by Nodal Clear