Representatives from four South Korean financial institutions shared a single panel with Ripple executives at the XRP Seoul 2026 event held at the Grand Hyatt Seoul during Korea Blockchain Week.
The session, titled “From Cross-Border Payments to Tokenized Deposits,” featured speakers from Kbank, Kyobo Securities, Woori Bank, and Jeonbuk Bank alongside Ripple President Monica Long and RippleX Senior Vice President Markus Infanger. According to organizers, attendance at the event grew to over 5,000 people, up from more than 3,000 the previous year.
Individual Bank Engagements
Each participating institution maintains a distinct relationship or ongoing exploration with blockchain infrastructure:
- Kbank: The internet-only lender serves as the banking partner for Upbit and signed an agreement with Ripple in April. The partners have tested a wallet app-based remittance system and moved into a second phase testing onchain transfers to the UAE and Thailand using Ripple's Palisade wallet software.
- Kyobo Securities: The brokerage shares a parent entity with Kyobo Life Insurance, which previously partnered with Ripple in April to tokenize government bond settlement using Ripple Custody to target near real-time settlement.
- Woori Bank: The major lender joined the panel without a formally announced Ripple deal, having recently signed with Moonpay to focus on won-pegged stablecoins and cross-border corporate payments.
- Jeonbuk Bank: In August, it became South Korea's first regional bank to deploy Ripple Payments, extending near real-time cross-border settlement to local businesses.
The discussions at XRP Seoul 2026 spanned financial applications including tokenized bank deposits, digital asset protection, and XRP lending, aligning with broader regional movements toward tokenized stocks and bonds.
