Ripple announced on October 14 a strategic partnership with Meritz Securities to explore institutional cryptocurrency custody and asset tokenization within South Korea's markets. According to Ripple's statement, the agreement represents the company's fourth Korean institutional partnership of 2026 and marks its first partnership with a Korean securities firm. The collaboration will examine how Ripple Custody and tokenization technology could support Meritz Securities' capital markets operations, with both companies planning to remain within existing securities regulations before considering additional services as rules develop. However, as reported by crypto.news, the announcement does not specify that Meritz has launched a live product, issued a security on the XRP Ledger, or committed to use XRP in any future implementation.
Meritz Securities will assess Ripple's infrastructure for holding, transferring and settling digital assets as part of its preparations for expanding into digital asset services. As reported by Ripple, the securities firm is examining several potential businesses, including spot cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds, fractional investment products, security tokens and digital asset trading platforms. Korean won-denominated stablecoins represent another area under consideration, though no issuance plans were confirmed. Byungha Kang, managing director of Meritz Securities' Strategic Planning Unit, stated the agreement would combine the firm's securities experience with Ripple's financial technology, with partners preparing digital asset services gradually as Korea's regulatory environment develops. According to crypto.news analysis, this exploration covers Meritz's broader interests but does not confirm that each product will be built with Ripple, approved by regulators, or released to clients.
While Ripple expands its institutional footprint in Korea, XRP has faced significant challenges with retail traders. According to Chainalysis data, payment tokens like XRP lost ground in Korea's won market as AI tokens overtook them in trading volume. The report found that AI tokens ran 19.5 times the yen rate in won trading by June 2026, with Worldcoin (WLD) leading the category at $7.41 billion in volume over the year to June. XRP's trading activity on Upbit has declined dramatically, with monthly XRP/KRW volume dropping from 28.94 billion XRP in November 2024 to just 3.54 billion XRP in September 2026. Despite this decline, XRP remained Upbit's top asset by 24-hour trading value on October 14, at approximately 80.5 billion won, with Bitcoin following at roughly 73.8 billion won.
Before the Meritz agreement, Ripple had established three institutional partnerships in South Korea during 2026, covering insurance, digital banking and cross-border payments. In April, Ripple partnered with Kyobo Life Insurance to explore blockchain-based settlement of tokenized Korean government bonds, focusing on reducing settlement times from approximately two business days to near-instant transfers. Later in April, Kbank announced deployment of digital asset wallet infrastructure using Ripple Custody for managing digital assets through secure wallets and transaction-signing systems. In August, Jeonbuk Bank became Ripple's third Korean institutional partner after adopting Ripple Payments for international business transfers, making it the first Korean regional bank to adopt the technology. The Meritz Securities partnership completes Ripple's coverage across banking, insurance and securities sectors for 2026, though as crypto.news notes, these are not four identical XRP adoption deals but rather four different products across different sectors. According to Francis Kang, executive director of Korea Blockchain Week, every major bank and securities firm now runs a digital asset team, with most testing stablecoin, tokenization, or custody pilots.
The partnership comes as Korean financial institutions examine new uses for blockchain in regulated markets, with securities firms developing tokenized investment infrastructure. Fiona Murray, Ripple's managing director for Asia Pacific, linked the deal to institutional readiness, stating that "Korea is one of the most dynamic digital asset markets in the world and its institutions are preparing to move from exploration to real-world utility." The companies expect to introduce their cooperation in stages as South Korea develops its rules governing digital assets, with neither company disclosing a commercial launch date or financial terms. Ripple's Asia-Pacific managing director described the company's technology as covering payments, custody and tokenization across more than 60 markets and holding over 85 licenses globally. As reported by crypto.news, the partnership explicitly states it will begin within Meritz' existing securities business and expand as Korea's digital asset framework evolves, with no volume target, custody asset list, issuer mandate, production date or client enrollment number appearing in the release.
