Meritz Securities has signed a strategic partnership with Ripple to explore bringing institutional digital asset custody and tokenization infrastructure into South Korea’s capital markets.
Summary
- Meritz Securities has partnered with Ripple to study how Ripple Custody and tokenization infrastructure could be used in South Korea’s capital markets.
- The companies will initially pursue cooperation within existing securities and digital asset rules, with the scope expected to develop as South Korea introduces new regulations.
- Meritz Securities is reviewing businesses including spot crypto ETFs, tokenized securities, trading platforms and won denominated stablecoins as part of its digital asset plans.
- Ripple has already worked with Korean financial institutions on tokenization, including a project with Kyobo Life involving tokenized government bonds and Ripple Custody.
According to Meritz Securities, the agreement will cover a review of Ripple Custody and the company’s tokenization infrastructure for possible use in Korea within existing securities rules and digital asset regulations. The two sides signed the agreement on Oct. 1 at Meritz Securities’ headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, with CEO Jang Won jae and Ripple President Monica Long among the executives attending.
The securities firm disclosed the partnership on Oct. 7 as it studies several digital asset businesses ahead of further regulatory changes in South Korea. Areas under consideration include spot crypto exchange traded funds, fractional investment products, tokenized securities, digital asset trading platforms and won denominated stablecoins.
Meritz said work with Ripple will initially stay within activities permitted under current securities regulations. Areas of cooperation could then be expanded in stages as South Korea develops its rules for digital assets.
Meritz Securities will study Ripple Custody and tokenization
Ripple’s institutional custody and tokenization technology sits at the center of the agreement. Meritz and Ripple will examine how the infrastructure currently offered to financial institutions overseas could be used in the Korean capital market.
Ripple Custody provides infrastructure for institutions to store and manage digital assets, while the company has been pairing custody with tokenization services as it works with banks and other regulated financial firms.
That institutional business has been growing across Asia Pacific. In September, Ripple entered a partnership with SettleMint that combines Ripple Custody with infrastructure for issuing and managing tokenized assets. The offering was initially directed at regulated financial institutions in the region.
SettleMint’s Digital Asset Platform covers issuance, compliance, settlement and servicing, while Ripple Custody handles asset storage and governance. Institutions can use the combined infrastructure to manage different parts of a tokenized asset’s lifecycle without relying on separate systems for each function.
Ripple has deployed the custody technology directly with financial institutions as well. South African lender Absa Corporate and Investment Banking launched digital asset custody using Ripple’s technology in September, nearly a year after the companies first announced their partnership.
For Meritz, no specific digital asset product or launch date has been announced under the new agreement. The initial work is focused on reviewing where Ripple’s infrastructure can be used under South Korea’s existing rules.
Ripple has already tested tokenized bonds in South Korea
The Meritz agreement follows earlier work by Ripple with Korean financial institutions, including a project involving tokenized government bonds.
In April, crypto.news previously reported that Ripple and Kyobo Life Insurance had agreed to test government bond settlement using Ripple Custody. The project was designed to move the holding, transfer and settlement of tokenized Korean government bonds onto blockchain infrastructure.
Kyobo Life, one of South Korea’s largest insurers, planned to use the system to test settlement closer to real time instead of the standard two day process. The companies were also exploring the use of Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin for payment rails around the project.
Ripple Custody was the main infrastructure involved in the Korean bond project, meaning the arrangement did not require XRP to serve as the settlement asset.
South Korea has since seen other traditional financial companies work on tokenized products. KB Securities signed an agreement with Securitize and the Optimism Foundation in September to develop tokenized funds for Korean institutional investors.
Their first planned product is a tokenized money market fund on OP Mainnet, while a product based on a KB Asset Management strategy is on the roadmap. Stocks, corporate bonds and Korean government bonds could be considered later as domestic regulations develop.
Another project involving Shinhan Asset Management and Plume has focused on a won denominated tokenized fund backed by an ultra short term bond fund. The proof of concept was structured offshore and excluded Korean residents, with no token issuance or distribution planned during the test.
South Korea’s security token amendments are due to take effect on Feb. 4, 2027, providing a legal framework for tokenized securities while financial firms prepare products and infrastructure around the new rules.
Meritz is considering ETFs, stablecoins and trading infrastructure
Meritz Securities is looking beyond custody and tokenization as it prepares for digital assets to become more closely integrated with regulated finance.
The company said it is reviewing spot digital asset ETFs, fractional investments, security token offerings, trading platforms and won denominated stablecoins. The Ripple agreement forms part of that preparation, though Meritz has not committed to launching any of those services.
Won based stablecoins have become another area of interest across South Korea’s financial sector as policymakers work through how locally denominated digital money should be regulated.
Ripple already has a stablecoin presence in the country through RLUSD. Upbit listed RLUSD trading against the Korean won, Bitcoin and USDT in July, with deposits and withdrawals supported through the XRP Ledger.
The stablecoin has been used separately from XRP across some of Ripple’s institutional projects. Ripple’s infrastructure can therefore be adopted for custody, tokenization or stablecoin settlement without requiring institutions to buy XRP as part of the arrangement.
Meritz did not say whether XRP, RLUSD or the XRP Ledger would be used in any future service developed through its partnership with Ripple.
Partnership will follow South Korea’s regulatory changes
Meritz plans to work within its existing securities business permissions while monitoring changes to South Korea’s digital asset framework.
A company official said the partnership provides a foundation for combining Ripple’s global digital asset infrastructure with Meritz Securities’ capital market capabilities. The brokerage intends to prepare digital asset financial services in stages as domestic rules develop.
Ripple was founded in 2012 and provides blockchain based financial infrastructure in more than 90 countries. Its institutional business now covers custody, payments, tokenization, stablecoins and other services used by financial firms.
Fiona Murray, Ripple’s managing director for Asia Pacific, said the company would explore with Meritz how digital asset infrastructure could support the continued development of South Korea’s capital markets.
XRP showed little immediate reaction to the Meritz partnership, trading around $1.47 on Oct. 7 after slipping over the past 24 hours. Technical signals remain mixed, though moving averages and the EMA composite currently lean bullish.
The first major resistance currently sits near $1.48, with a break above that level opening the way toward $1.53. As of now, the Meritz agreement itself does not specify whether XRP will be used in any products developed through the partnership.
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