Ripple and Meritz Securities have entered a partnership to explore digital asset services in South Korea's financial sector. The agreement was signed on October 7 at Meritz Securities' headquarters in Seoul's Yeouido financial district by Ripple President Monica Long and Meritz Chief Executive Jang Won-jae.
Under the partnership, the two firms will jointly explore applying Ripple's digital asset infrastructure to Korea's capital markets. Areas of focus include tokenization services and Ripple Custody, Ripple's institutional custody platform for holding digital assets. Meritz noted that the partnership aims to combine Ripple's global digital asset infrastructure with the firm's capital markets capabilities.
Trading Activity on Upbit
On October 7, XRP became the most-traded asset on South Korean exchange Upbit. XRP logged approximately $111.4 million in 24-hour trading volume, surpassing bitcoin's $104.7 million and ether's $59.2 million. The XRP/KRW pair led Upbit's spot market, with trading activity reflecting movement following a price drop rather than a local premium against global markets.
Regulatory Timeline
The partnership arrives as South Korea's regulatory framework evolves. South Korea's Financial Services Commission has proposed rules allowing stocks, bonds, and funds to be issued and traded in tokenized form beginning February 4, 2027, starting with institutional products.
Meritz's Digital Asset Plans
Under the partnership, Meritz is reviewing several digital asset products, including spot cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds, fractional investment products, security token offerings, trading platforms, and stablecoins denominated in Korean won. The agreement emphasizes a staged approach as the domestic regulatory environment develops.
