Standard Chartered has launched institutional custody services for Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin on the XRP Ledger through its Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) branch on October 12, 2026. According to the bank's official statement, eligible institutional clients can now hold RLUSD through Standard Chartered's DIFC branch, which is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA). The service extends Standard Chartered's digital asset custody business to Ripple USD, a stablecoin designed to maintain a value of $1, allowing institutional clients to use the bank's existing custody infrastructure to safeguard RLUSD issued on the XRP Ledger. The custody service is available to select institutional clients who meet certain requirements, though these specific requirements were not disclosed in the announcement. The bank has not disclosed the number of clients using the service or the value of RLUSD currently held, but confirmed the custody support is operational. As per Standard Chartered, the move builds on the bank's recent expansion of digital asset custody services into Singapore, Hong Kong, and Luxembourg.
Standard Chartered is working with Ripple and LMAX Group to introduce collateral services that would allow institutions to use RLUSD for trading while keeping the stablecoin in regulated custody. Under the proposed arrangement, Standard Chartered would extend its existing collateral-mirroring model to LMAX Group, allowing the trading company to recognize the value of eligible RLUSD held in the bank's custody without requiring the tokens to be transferred directly to the trading venue. The planned structure would allow institutional customers to retain their digital assets at Standard Chartered while using their value to support eligible positions on LMAX's trading platforms. Waqar Chaudhry, Standard Chartered's global head of digital assets, securities services and transaction services, described the move as a way to help clients integrate their assets into other financial market activities: "By integrating our capabilities with Ripple and LMAX, we can help clients incorporate digital assets more confidently into their broader financial activities." The collateral arrangement remains subject to testing, final documents, internal approval, and applicable regulatory requirements, with implementation dependent on successful testing and regulatory readiness in relevant jurisdictions.
RLUSD currently holds the ninth position among stablecoins by market capitalization, with a market capitalization of ₹20,320 crore ($2.447 billion), according to DeFiLlama. The broader stablecoin market has a total market capitalization of ₹25,70,000 crore ($306.225 billion). This positioning provides Standard Chartered with access to a significant portion of the institutional stablecoin market through its custody and trading infrastructure. The bank's strategic focus on RLUSD aligns with the token's growing institutional adoption and its role as a settlement and collateral asset for institutional clients.
The RLUSD custody launch builds on Standard Chartered's extensive digital asset footprint across multiple financial centers. The bank entered the UAE digital asset custody market in September 2024, initially supporting Bitcoin and Ethereum through its DIFC operations, naming Brevan Howard Digital as its inaugural customer. In September 2026, Standard Chartered expanded institutional Bitcoin and Ethereum spot trading through its DIFC branch, following similar services introduced in the United Kingdom in July 2025. The bank became the first bank to distribute one of Hong Kong's two regulated stablecoins in August and fully acquired Zodia Custody earlier this year. Last week, Standard Chartered announced plans to offer institutional clients in Singapore custody for selected cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets. The bank now offers digital asset services to institutional investors across four markets: the UAE, Luxembourg, Hong Kong, and Singapore. The relationship with LMAX has developed through separate custody and trading agreements, with LMAX becoming the first customer to join Standard Chartered Luxembourg's digital asset custody platform following the bank's authorization under the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets framework in June 2026.
