BDACS, a South Korean cryptocurrency custodian, launched regulated institutional custody support for XRP today. BDACS partnered with Ripple in February to secure XRP and RLUSD using the Ripple Custody. Ripple Custody allows regulated institutions to store and manage crypto assets securely.
BDACS described XRP as one of the most popular digital assets in South Korea, showing its commitment to the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The launch of Ripple Custody will offer institutional clients in Korea access to XRP with regulatory compliance. BDACS confirmed that Ripple Custody has been integrated with Korea’s major exchanges, such as Upbit, Coinone, and Korbit, to enhance institutional deployment across top local trading platforms.
Ripple partners with BDACS to support RLUSD
Ripple partnered with BDACS on February 26 with plans to support RLUSD, Ripple’s U.S. dollar-backed Stablecoin. The collaboration aimed to advance tokenization, support developers building on the XRP Ledger, and expand Stablecoin use cases within Busan’s blockchain regulation-free zone.
XRP is now live on BDACS!
We’re thrilled to offer custody support for #XRP, one of the most popular digital assets in #Korea, to our institutional clients. This launch strengthens our long-standing partnership with #Ripple and underscores our commitment to the Korean market.… pic.twitter.com/j8IKSBr7W7
— BDACS (@BDACSKorea) August 5, 2025
Ripple custody, now live on BDACS, allows regulated institutions to store and manage crypto assets securely. Ripple’s custody infrastructure has multi-signature wallets and transaction controls designed to be secure and compliant according to the standards of the custodians and financial institutions.
The collaboration came about after Ripple noted in February that the crypto custody market projections could reach up to $16 trillion by 2030. Ripple added that approximately 10% of the global GDP will potentially represent tokenized assets.
Fiona Murray, Asia-Pacific managing director, and Harry Ryoo, BDACS CEO, stressed the importance of collaboration as a key driver in boosting the digital asset ecosystem in South Korea. Murray said the collaboration came amid rising market activity and evolving regulatory conditions in South Korea. Ryoo revealed that BDACS aimed to provide secure and compliant custody services to support Ripple’s blockchain ambitions.
XRP is the native token of XRP Ledger, a layer one blockchain technology that offers low-cost and scalable transfers for tokenized and digital assets. XRP is trading at $2.95, a 0.35% drop over the past 24 hours. The asset’s YTD has declined 2.55%, reflecting a negative economic landscape for the platform.
Angne Linge, Head of Growth at WEFI, a decentralized on-chain bank, noted that XRP has gained influence in Asia, and Japanese banks have shown interest in its adoption. According to Linge, approximately 80% of the firms are ready to adopt XRP as a global payment platform.
Crypto holdings spike in South Korea
Hana Institute of Finance report showed that one in four citizens in South Korea aged between 20 and 50 hold crypto 14% in personal wallets. The report highlighted that citizens in their 40s had the most individual participation in crypto holding. The report also indicated that 70% intended to increase their crypto awareness.
Ripple has maintained multiple partnerships globally. In February, the blockchain-based digital payment firm collaborated with Revolut and Zero Hash to advance RLUSD adoption. It also partnered with Portugal’s Unicambio to allow payments to Brazil. It also partnered with Chainlink recently to enable RLUSD to offer on the Ethereum-based DeFi protocols.
David Shwartz, Ripple CTO, defended Ripple’s decentralized nature as debates continue to spark on whether Ripple XRP should be included in the U.S. cryptocurrency reserve. Ripple has also enhanced its Ledger with improved compliance functions and lending capabilities. The feature allows issuers to reclaim assets linked to fraudulent activities and decentralized identity tools that will improve user verification processes.
The growing interest in crypto assets has also prompted South Korean financial institutions such as Kakao Bank, Kookmin Bank, and the Industrial Bank of Korea to file for Korean Won Stablecoin trademarks, showing a potential shift in the country’s financial ecosystem.
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