October 22, 2025 ・ 4 min read
Licensing Our Payments Stack to Reach Global Scale
Plasma is building regulated stablecoin infrastructure in Europe. VASP license acquisition in Italy, expansion to the Netherlands, and vision for a digital dollar neobank.
Plasma is the chain for money. Moving dollars at a global scale requires rails that we control end to end. We are building and licensing the stack ourselves so that stablecoin settlement, custody, exchange, and payments can thrive on Plasma.
We have acquired a VASP-licensed entity in Italy, opened a Netherlands office, and hired experienced compliance personnel, including a Chief Compliance Officer and a Money Laundering Reporting Officer. Next, we will apply for CASP authorization under MiCA, which will allow us to custody and exchange assets for users, and prepare for an EMI to integrate fiat on/off ramps directly into Plasma’s stablecoin infrastructure.
Licensing our stack for global money movement enables us to serve materially larger markets and partners in more regions. It is how Plasma One operates as a true stablecoin neobank and how Plasma fulfills its mission to build the stablecoin infrastructure for a new global financial system.
Licensing the Payments Stack
Payments is a highly regulated industry, and rented access alone is not enough to power a global money network. To move digital dollars at scale for institutions, businesses, merchants and people everywhere, we must own the regulated stack.
We have acquired a VASP-licensed entity in Italy. We will now apply for our Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) license under the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework and further expand our compliance operations in the Netherlands to serve priority payments corridors with confidence.
“Our aim is to set a high standard for blockchain-native stablecoin infrastructure by securing the right licenses and owning the regulated stack end to end,” said Jacob Wittman, General Counsel.
The Netherlands is one of Europe’s leading payments hubs, home to major payment service providers (PSPs) and merchant acquirers. PSPs connect merchants to the global payments ecosystem, enabling businesses to accept and process card and alternative payments securely. Establishing our team there gives us the right foundation to further pursue an Electronic Money Institution (EMI), the license that powers many leading payment providers and enables card programs, wallet accounts, and fiat connectivity at scale.
“The Netherlands is a premier payments region. Expanding our team and regulatory presence here positions us to own more of the payments stack, from stablecoin settlement to licensed financial infrastructure,” continued Adam Jacobs, Head of Global Payments.
Owning the licenses for our stablecoin infrastructure removes third-party risk, compresses cost, and accelerates launch timelines. It gives Plasma One and the card compliant rails at scale and moves us closer to stablecoin infrastructure that serves everyone, everywhere.
Why Licenses Matter for Money Movement
Licenses are part of the product. They enable our products to custody assets under segregation and safeguarding, operate compliant exchange flows, issue cards, and connect to local money systems. The result is simpler onboarding, fewer intermediaries, faster settlement, lower fees, stronger consumer protections, and a single operating standard for partners.
Under MiCA, a CASP authorization enables custody and exchange inside a harmonized framework. An EMI unlocks card issuance, stored-value wallets, fiat connectivity, and direct access to local rails via sponsor banks. With our Netherlands compliance hub, we can serve priority corridors, meet data residency requirements, and give institutions a clear path to integrate.
In practice, users onboard in a trusted environment, spend from dollar balances with instant settlement, and move value across borders without hidden steps. Institutions and businesses integrate once, inherit a full compliance stack, and launch in more markets with predictable timelines. Licenses turn distribution into coverage at scale and make digital dollars on Plasma’s rails usable everywhere.
Plasma One and Beyond
Plasma One is our stablecoin neobank built on Plasma’s infrastructure. It provides a trusted, regulated path into digital dollars, then makes them useful every day: save with yield, spend with a card, send instantly, and settle across borders without friction.
To make Plasma One the cheapest and most efficient way to use stablecoins, we will own the infrastructure that powers the on/off ramps, card issuing and spending stack, and virtual dollar accounts. Relying on third-party licenses creates cost, delays, and fragility. The only path to unlocking a true stablecoin neobanking experience is by owning and optimizing the entire regulatory stack.
As Plasma One scales, we will enable other partners and builders on Plasma to leverage this stack. That means deeper merchant acceptance and settlement, corridor-specific cash-in and cash-out, programmable payouts for employers and platforms, and treasury tools for businesses that hold and move dollar balances at scale. Once builders and companies can use our regulated infrastructure, balances connect cleanly across merchants and corridors. Settlement accelerates across the network, creating durable network effects for dollars on Plasma.
Plasma One is the gateway to digital dollars on Plasma today and the foundation for the products that follow.
Conclusion
We are assembling the regulated capabilities that matter, wiring them into the corridors where value moves, and turning them into products that people and institutions can trust. As our licensing stack expands and compliance deepens, partners gain a single, dependable standard for custody, exchange, settlement, and spend on Plasma.
Plasma One carries these compliant foundations to merchants and platforms, into payroll and payouts, and across corridors where dollars are most in demand. The result is a stack for global money movement where cost falls, access widens, and dollars flow with the certainty modern economies require.
That is why Plasma is the chain for money.
