Ripple and Meritz Collaborate on Custody Solutions for South Korea's Tokenisation Efforts

Ripple has entered into a partnership with Meritz Securities to focus on the custody and tokenisation of digital assets, aligning with South Korea's regulatory framework for securities. This collaboration aims to establish a secure infrastructure for capital markets before expanding into broader digital asset services.

The agreement, announced on October 14, emphasizes the importance of custody solutions, as financial institutions in South Korea are particularly cautious about maintaining regulatory compliance. The initial phase will explore Ripple Custody and related infrastructure, allowing Meritz to gradually enhance its offerings as regulations evolve.

Meritz is also looking into opportunities such as spot ETFs, fractional investments, security tokens, and won-linked stablecoins, although these initiatives are not part of the immediate agreement. The focus on custody is essential, as it ensures that brokers can reliably manage tokenized securities while adhering to internal approval processes and audit requirements.

This partnership marks Ripple's first collaboration with a South Korean securities firm, following previous engagements in other sectors of the country's financial industry. Investors should view this as an infrastructure partnership rather than an indication of immediate trading activity for XRP.

New Developments in Ripple and BNY Collaboration

• Ripple and BNY are enhancing their partnership to include custody support for XRP and RLUSD.
• BNY clients will have the ability to mint and redeem RLUSD directly through the bank.
• The collaboration aims to explore tokenized trade finance applications on the XRP Ledger.
• BNY has integrated XRP and Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin into its Digital Asset Custody platform.
• Ripple and BNY are looking into additional institutional uses for XRPL, including tokenized assets and blockchain-based workflows.
• The first potential trade finance initiative involves C2FO, focusing on expanding investor access to approved receivables.

Latest Developments in Ripple's Banking Strategy

• Ripple received final approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish Ripple National Trust Bank on October 26, 2026.
• The bank will manage reserves supporting Ripple's US dollar-pegged stablecoin, RLUSD, and provide institutional digital asset custody services.
• RLUSD has reached a market capitalization of approximately $2.5 billion, indicating its growing importance in Ripple's ecosystem.
• The national trust bank will operate under federal supervision, enhancing the regulatory framework for Ripple's stablecoin and custody operations.
• Despite the approval, XRP did not experience a significant price rally, trading around $1.30 to $1.31 shortly after the announcement.
• Ripple's upcoming Swell 2026 conference, scheduled for October 27–29, will focus on updates regarding the trust bank and institutional custody services.