Ripple taps Meritz Securities to bring custody, tokenization to Korea’s capital markets

Ripple has established a strategic partnership with Meritz Securities, a leading South Korean brokerage, to explore deploying its digital asset custody and tokenization infrastructure across South Korea’s capital markets, the company said Wednesday.

The agreement is Ripple’s first with a South Korean securities firm and its fourth institutional partnership in the country this year.

The two companies will begin within the scope of Meritz’s existing securities operations and current regulations, with plans to expand their collaboration in stages as South Korea develops its digital asset rules.

A key subsidiary of Meritz Financial Group, one of South Korea’s largest financial holding companies, Meritz Securities offers brokerage, sales and trading, corporate finance and investment banking services.

The company, which reported a 10% increase in consolidated net profit to about KRW 766 billion in 2025, is evaluating several potential digital asset businesses, including spot ETFs, fractional investment products, security tokens, trading platforms and Korean won-denominated stablecoins.

The firm plans to prepare for the integration of digital assets into the regulated financial system.

Ripple Custody is designed for regulated institutions and supports the storage, transfer and settlement of digital assets. Ripple said its infrastructure could help financial institutions avoid the cost, complexity and time required to develop custody systems internally.

The deal adds capital markets to Ripple’s growing network of Korean institutional partners. Kyobo Life Insurance is using Ripple Custody for work on tokenized government bond settlement, Kbank is deploying digital asset wallet infrastructure, and Jeonbuk Bank has adopted Ripple Payments for cross-border remittances.

These partnerships extend Ripple’s presence across South Korea’s insurance and banking sectors, while the Meritz agreement creates a foothold in the securities industry. Meritz said the collaboration would combine Ripple’s global digital asset infrastructure with its capital markets expertise to prepare regulated services as local rules evolve.

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