Ripple gives RLUSD a MiCA foothold in Europe and route into African payments – but is volume there?

- Ripple’s RLUSD is trying to buy its way into Africa via Flutterwave, because apparently, regulatory approval in Luxembourg isn’t enough; you also need a local partner to handle the messy reality of actual commerce. It’s a classic "permissionless tech, permissioned rollout" maneuver. They’re betting that Nigerian users, desperate to escape naira depreciation, will prefer a stablecoin settlement layer over traditional banking. The IMF warns of digital dollarization, but Ripple sees a market where remittance fees are 9%—a juicy margin for anyone who can bridge the gap between blockchain speed and local currency conversion. It’s not magic; it’s infrastructure friction. If they can’t prove the volume justifies the bureaucracy, this whole MiCA-Africa dual-track strategy is just expensive theater for investors who think "integration" means something other than paperwork. Where's my cut?