Ripple announced partnerships with DriveWealth and Meritz Securities on Oct. 14 to extend its services across global brokerage and securities markets. The agreements expand Ripple's activities beyond cross-border payments into traditional capital markets. Financial institutions are exploring blockchain technology to reduce settlement delays, manage collateral and tokenize financial assets. Neither announcement establishes revenue expectations or a complete deployment timetable.
DriveWealth plans to integrate Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin on the XRP Ledger to support settlement in Europe, alongside Ripple's stablecoin issuance and redemption capabilities. DriveWealth could expand the stablecoin integration into the US. DriveWealth provides investment infrastructure to more than 100 partners worldwide. DriveWealth's network serves financial institutions, digital wallets and fintech platforms offering access to US markets. The partnership creates an opportunity for Ripple to distribute infrastructure through that network.
DriveWealth already supports trading in US equities for 24 hours a day, five days a week. However, international clients can face cross-border funding delays, particularly when transfers depend on bank operating hours. DriveWealth and Ripple intend to let clients fund and manage collateral accounts with stablecoins convertible to cash in near real time. The arrangement could reduce capital held idle while clients await traditional bank transfers. DriveWealth Chief Executive Officer Naureen Hassan said funding needs to match the company's existing 24/5 trading capability.
DriveWealth will integrate Ripple Payments to support cross-border funding from DriveWealth's international partners. DriveWealth will also use Ripple's digital-asset custody infrastructure in Europe, with plans to expand into additional markets. DriveWealth and Ripple are exploring equity financing opportunities through Ripple Prime's Delta One business. The Delta One business covers institutional services involving US equities and equity derivatives. However, DriveWealth and Ripple did not disclose expected settlement volumes, financial terms or a timetable for completing every integration.
Meritz becomes Ripple's first securities-firm partner in South Korea and fourth institutional partner in the country this year. Ripple and Meritz will initially explore Ripple Custody and tokenization infrastructure within Meritz's existing securities operations. Ripple and Meritz plan to expand cooperation as South Korea's digital-asset regulations develop. Meritz is evaluating opportunities involving fractional investment products, security tokens, trading platforms, spot exchange-traded funds and won-denominated stablecoins. However, the agreement does not commit either company to launching those products.
Ripple previously reached agreements with Kyobo Life Insurance, Kbank and Jeonbuk Bank. The Kyobo Life Insurance relationship covers tokenized government-bond settlement. The Kbank relationship covers digital-asset custody wallets. The Jeonbuk Bank relationship covers cross-border remittances. Those relationships give Ripple connections across several functions of South Korea's financial system.
South Korea's Financial Services Commission has scheduled the first phase of a tokenized-securities framework to begin on Feb. 4, 2027. Amendments to the Electronic Registration Act take effect on that date. The initial phase will cover selected institutional bonds and money market funds, unlisted shares issued through trust structures and certain fractional investment securities. Broader public securities and stablecoin-linked settlement infrastructure are planned for later stages. The framework could create opportunities for custody and tokenization providers as securities firms develop systems to issue, record and transfer blockchain-based financial instruments.