Ripple has signed its first deal with a South Korean securities firm, partnering with Meritz Securities on custody and tokenization in its fourth Korean institutional partnership of 2026.
Key Points:
- Ripple and Meritz Securities will study using Ripple Custody and tokenization tools in Korea's capital markets.
- The deal is exploratory, with no product, launch date or financial terms disclosed.
- Korea's security token amendments take effect Feb. 4, 2027.
Meritz Securities Deal
Ripple announced the strategic partnership on Wednesday, saying the two companies will explore how to bring Ripple Custody and its tokenization infrastructure into Korea's capital markets. Ripple Custody is a platform built for regulated financial institutions to store, transfer and settle digital assets. Meritz CEO Jang Won-jae and Ripple President Monica Long attended the Oct. 1 signing at the brokerage's headquarters in Seoul's Yeouido financial district.
Meritz first disclosed the agreement on Oct. 7, a week before Ripple's release. The two firms will start within Meritz's existing securities business and current regulation, then widen their cooperation in stages as Korea's digital asset framework develops.
Neither company has disclosed financial terms or a launch date.
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Fiona Murray On Korea
Fiona Murray, Ripple's managing director for Asia Pacific, called Korea "one of the most dynamic digital asset markets in the world." She said local institutions are getting ready to move from exploration to real use, and that Ripple hopes to work with more of them as the market grows. She also noted that Ripple holds more than 85 licenses and runs a network spanning more than 60 markets.
Byungha Kang, a managing director in Meritz's strategic planning unit, said the deal pairs Ripple's global infrastructure with the brokerage's capital markets business, and that Meritz will roll out digital asset services in stages as rules evolve. The firm is also weighing spot crypto ETFs, fractional investment products, security tokens, trading platforms and won-pegged stablecoins, though the announcement makes no commitment to using XRP (XRP) or the XRP Ledger.
For Ripple, the deal adds capital markets to a Korean business that already spans banking and insurance.
Ripple Korea Expansion
The timing lines up with amendments to Korea's security token rules, which take effect on Feb. 4, 2027, and will give tokenized securities a legal framework. That leaves Meritz roughly four months between the signing and the new rules. Korean securities firms have already started building tokenized investment infrastructure, while banks and insurers test digital asset settlement.
Meritz follows three other Korean institutions that signed with Ripple this year, starting with Kyobo Life Insurance, which agreed in April to test tokenized government bond settlement on Ripple Custody. Internet-only lender Kbank picked the same platform for its digital asset wallets on Apr. 30, and Jeonbuk Bank became the first Korean regional bank to adopt Ripple Payments on Aug. 18.
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