Ripple has partnered with South Korean securities firm Meritz Securities to explore institutional cryptocurrency custody and asset tokenization. Announced on October 14, the agreement marks Ripple’s fourth partnership with a Korean financial institution in 2026 and its first with a local securities firm.
The companies will examine how Ripple’s custody and tokenization technology could support Meritz’s capital markets business. Their initial work will follow South Korea’s existing financial regulations. Neither company disclosed financial terms or a launch date.
Meritz is exploring several potential digital asset services, including spot crypto ETFs, fractional investments, security tokens, digital asset trading platforms and Korean won-denominated stablecoins. However, these remain areas under consideration, and the company has not confirmed plans to launch any of them.
Ripple and Meritz explore institutional digital asset services
Under the partnership, Meritz will assess Ripple Custody, a platform designed to help financial institutions securely hold, transfer and manage digital assets. The technology could provide the securities firm with existing infrastructure rather than requiring it to build its own custody system from scratch.
Meritz is also examining how tokenization could support financial products and services. Tokenization involves representing assets, such as securities, on a blockchain, potentially making them easier to transfer and manage digitally.
Byungha Kang, managing director of Meritz Securities’ Strategic Planning Unit, said the partnership would combine the firm’s securities market experience with Ripple’s technology. He added that the companies would prepare digital asset services gradually as South Korea’s regulatory environment develops.
Ripple’s custody platform supports digital assets across multiple blockchain networks, depending on the product and configuration. However, the announcement did not specify which blockchain would be used for Meritz’s potential tokenization services. It also did not confirm that XRP, RLUSD or the XRP Ledger would be involved.
Ripple’s Asia-Pacific managing director, Fiona Murray, said the company provides payment, custody and tokenization services across more than 60 markets and holds over 85 licenses globally.
In February, Ripple expanded its institutional custody capabilities through partnerships with Securosys and Figment. The arrangements added options for secure key management and institutional staking, giving financial institutions more ways to manage digital assets.
Ripple has signed three other Korean partnerships this year
Before the Meritz agreement, Ripple had announced partnerships with three other Korean financial institutions in 2026, covering insurance, digital banking and international payments.
In April, Ripple partnered with Kyobo Life Insurance to explore blockchain-based settlement of tokenized South Korean government bonds. The project uses Ripple Custody to examine how digital securities could be held and transferred within a regulated financial environment.
Traditional bond transactions can take around two business days to settle. The proposed blockchain-based system aims to bring securities transfers and payments closer together, potentially reducing settlement delays.
Later in April, Kbank selected Ripple Custody to support digital asset wallet infrastructure. The South Korean internet-only bank has also explored blockchain-based international transfers, including trials involving markets such as the United Arab Emirates and Thailand.
In August, Jeonbuk Bank became Ripple’s third Korean institutional partner of the year by adopting Ripple Payments for international business transfers. The service is intended to help companies, including importers and exporters, send and receive cross-border payments more efficiently.
Jeonbuk Bank was the first regional bank in South Korea to adopt Ripple Payments, according to the company.
South Korea’s regulations will shape future services
The Ripple-Meritz agreement comes as South Korean financial institutions explore ways to bring blockchain technology into regulated markets. Banks and insurers are testing digital asset custody and settlement, while securities firms are examining tokenized investments and other blockchain-based financial products.
Meritz’s interest in spot ETFs, fractional investments, security tokens and won-denominated stablecoins does not mean those services are ready to launch. The firm has not announced a timetable for introducing products through Ripple or confirmed plans to issue its own stablecoin.
The two companies will first assess how Ripple’s infrastructure fits Meritz’s existing operations and regulatory responsibilities. Any future services will depend on their decisions, technical requirements and the applicable rules in South Korea.
The agreement gives Ripple another entry point into the country’s institutional financial sector. While its earlier Korean partnerships focused on tokenized government bonds, digital wallets and cross-border payments, its work with Meritz will focus on custody and tokenization within the securities market.
Neither company has announced specific implementation milestones, expected transaction volumes or customer eligibility requirements. For now, the partnership remains an exploration of how institutional digital asset services could develop as South Korea’s regulatory framework evolves.
