Meritz Securities, one of South Korea's leading brokerages, has signed a strategic partnership with Ripple to explore how Ripple Custody and tokenization infrastructure can be applied to the country's capital markets.
The agreement was formalized at Meritz's headquarters in Seoul, with Meritz CEO Jang Won-jae and Ripple President Monica Long in attendance. Meritz disclosed the partnership on October 7, 2026.
Timing Driven by Upcoming Rules
South Korea's tokenized-securities amendments are scheduled to take effect on February 4, 2027. The approaching deadline prompted both firms to initiate the collaboration, aiming to establish foundational infrastructure before the new regulations expand commercial possibilities.
The partnership is currently framed as a review rather than an immediate product launch. Both organizations plan to operate within existing securities regulations initially, with broader cooperation expected to follow as digital-asset rules evolve in the region.
Meritz is concurrently reviewing a wide range of digital-asset services, including spot digital-asset exchange-traded funds (ETFs), fractional investment products, security token offerings (STOs), digital-asset trading platforms, and won-denominated stablecoins. The agreement with Ripple provides a potential custody and tokenization backbone for these prospective service lines.
Institutional Strategy and Regional Context
The collaboration aligns with Ripple's broader custody-first expansion strategy across Asia and other global markets, which typically involves entering with institutional custody before layering on additional services as regulations permit.
Neither side has confirmed any specific product, customer segment, or settlement asset—such as XRP, RLUSD, or the XRP Ledger—associated with the Meritz agreement. Fiona Murray, Ripple's Asia-Pacific managing director, stated that the company will explore how its digital-asset infrastructure can support Korea's capital markets.
South Korea's institutional tokenization pipeline continues to grow, marked by other recent industry partnerships and cross-border stablecoin pilots in the same market.
