Ripple Signs First Korean Securities Firm Deal With Meritz Securities

TLDR

• Ripple has signed a strategic partnership with Meritz Securities, its first deal with a South Korean securities firm.
• The two companies will explore bringing Ripple Custody and Ripple’s tokenization tools into Korea’s capital markets.
• Meritz is also looking at spot ETFs, security tokens, trading platforms, and stablecoins tied to the Korean won.
• Meritz is Ripple’s fourth Korean institutional partner in 2026, after Kyobo Life Insurance, Kbank, and Jeonbuk Bank.
• XRP traded near its 24-hour high of $1.38 as traders waited for US inflation data.

Ripple has signed a strategic partnership with Meritz Securities, one of South Korea’s leading securities firms. The deal is Ripple’s first agreement with a Korean securities company.

Meritz Securities is a key subsidiary of Meritz Financial Group. The two companies will explore bringing Ripple Custody and Ripple’s tokenization tools into South Korea’s capital markets.

What the Partnership Covers

Ripple Custody supports the secure storage, transfer, and settlement of digital assets. The company says institutional interest in the service is growing.

The first step will focus on moving Meritz’s existing securities business on-chain. The companies say this work will follow South Korea’s current rules.

They plan to expand their work together in stages. Each stage will depend on how the country’s digital asset framework develops.

Meritz is also looking at other ways to bring digital assets into the regulated financial system. These include spot ETFs, fractional investment, security tokens, trading platforms, and stablecoins tied to the Korean won.

“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,” said Fiona Murray, Managing Director, Asia Pacific at Ripple.

Byungha Kang, managing director at Meritz Securities, said the deal combines Ripple’s global infrastructure with the firm’s capital markets skills. “As Korea’s regulatory framework evolves, we will prepare safe and trusted digital asset financial services in stages,” he said.

Ripple’s Growing List of Korean Partners

Meritz is Ripple’s fourth Korean institutional partner in 2026. Earlier this year, the company signed deals with Kyobo Life Insurance, Kbank, and Jeonbuk Bank.

“Our first securities partner in Korea, and our fourth Korean institution this year,” Ripple stated.

Jeonbuk Bank became the first Korean regional bank to use Ripple Payments for cross-border money transfers. With the Meritz deal, Ripple now works with Korean firms in banking, insurance, and capital markets.

In a separate move, Ripple also partnered with Privy, a wallet company owned by Stripe. That deal aims to bring embedded wallets and AI agent payments to the XRP Ledger.

XRP’s price moved slightly higher after the news. The token traded near its 24-hour high of $1.38, up 4% from its 24-hour low.

Trading volume fell 19% over the past 24 hours. Traders appear to be waiting for the latest US consumer price index inflation report.

The derivatives market showed more activity. CoinGlass data showed total XRP futures open interest rose 0.31% to $3.01 billion over the past four hours.

Futures open interest on CME and Binance rose by more than 0.22% and 0.75%, respectively.

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