Aave wins Irish MiCA approval for zero-fee stablecoin ramps

The approval was granted in Ireland under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regime to Push Virtual Assets Ireland Limited, Aave’s fiat bridge subsidiary, enabling passported access across the European Economic Area.

Aave described the product as regulated on- and off-ramping for EUR into stablecoins integrated across its suite, with conversion fees set at zero—an aggressive headline rate versus typical CEX and payments pricing. The company selected Ireland as its EU hub, joining a growing roster of MiCA-approved firms that can market uniform services across 30 EEA countries via a single license.

The EU framework matters for how, and by whom, stablecoins are issued and sold. MiCA splits stablecoins into Asset-Referenced Tokens (ARTs) and Electronic Money Tokens (EMTs), applies disclosure and authorization rules to issuers and to crypto-asset service providers, and relies on national regulators such as the Central Bank of Ireland for licensing and supervision. In practice, only EU-authorized banks or e-money institutions can issue EMTs at scale to EU users, with reserve, redemption and transparency duties; ESMA has separately warned against marketing non-compliant ARTs/EMTs in the bloc.

In Aave’s case, the stated “zero-fee” applies to conversion charges on the ramp itself; users should still expect unavoidable frictions like FX spreads when moving non-euro balances and network gas for on-chain settlement, costs that MiCA does not eliminate. Industry analyses show that while on-chain transfers can be fractions of a cent on some networks, redemption back into fiat reintroduces banking-system costs and timing constraints.

The EU has already cleared major dollar- and euro-pegged issuers to operate under MiCA. Circle announced in July 2024 that it became the first global stablecoin issuer to comply, via a French e-money license authorizing USDC and EURC issuance across the EU, with direct mint/redeem through Circle Mint France—a template for how EMT issuers can plug into banks and payment networks. Aave’s regulated access to those tokens via its ramp could widen non-exchange stablecoin entry points for European users and developers.

What MiCA changes for ramps is jurisdictional certainty: a single authorization, standardized disclosure, and supervision over offer and redemption practices. For EMTs, rules require timely fiat redemption, reserve custody in qualified institutions, and ongoing reporting—guardrails the European Commission and ESMA have emphasized as they police non-compliant offerings. That makes the combination of an authorized issuer and a passported ramp central to how stablecoin liquidity reaches the EU retail and enterprise base.