TL;DR
- Plasma acquires a VASP entity in Italy and opens an office in Amsterdam, strengthening its regulatory presence and compliance team in Europe.
- The firm seeks MiCA and EMI licenses to offer stablecoin payments, asset exchange, card issuance, and custody services under European regulations.
- The network attracts $7 billion in stablecoin deposits.
Plasma, the blockchain focused on stablecoin payments, begins its expansion in Europe after acquiring a VASP-licensed entity in Italy and opening an office in Amsterdam.
The company can now legally handle cryptocurrency transactions and custody assets in the region. The office in the Netherlands helps strengthen its regulatory presence and compliance team, including compliance officers and anti-money-laundering reporting officers. The acquired Italian entity will be renamed Plasma Italia SrL, while the new Dutch structure will operate as Plasma Nederland BV.
Plasma Seeks Additional Licenses in Europe
The firm also aims to obtain further licenses, including Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) status under the MiCA regulation and an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license. These authorizations will allow it to offer a full stablecoin payment system, exchange assets, issue cards, and custody client funds under European rules, reducing reliance on intermediaries and increasing transaction reliability.
A Bank for Stablecoins
Since its public launch just a month ago, the Plasma network attracts $7 billion in stablecoin deposits, becoming the fifth-largest blockchain by stablecoin supply. The company plans to use these licenses to strengthen its neobank, Plasma One, offering faster settlements, lower fees, and a fully regulated payment infrastructure that keeps customer funds segregated and protected.
Stablecoins currently represent a $300 billion market and could reach $4 trillion by the end of the decade. They enable faster and cheaper international transactions than traditional payment systems and are increasingly integrated into the global financial infrastructure.
Adam Jacobs, Plasma’s head of global payments, emphasizes that the expansion in the Netherlands allows the company to control more stages of the payments infrastructure, from stablecoin settlement to integration with licensed financial services. According to Jacob Wittman, the firm’s general counsel, the goal is to set a high standard for blockchain-native stablecoin infrastructure
