BDACS has just launched XRP custody for Korean institutions and is strengthening its partnership with Ripple while advancing crypto adoption.

According to reports, XRP custody for institutional clients is now available in South Korea, thanks to a major move by local crypto custodian BDACS. 

This development follows its February partnership with Ripple, and gives Korean institutions a regulated way to store and manage XRP.

The launch shows the rise in institutional demand for crypto services in South Korea, and here are some more details. 

Institutional XRP Custody Takes Hold in Korea

According to an announcement shared on August 5 via X (formerly Twitter), BDACS confirmed that XRP custody was now live. The company said it was excited to support one of the most actively traded digital assets in Korea. 

The move allows financial institutions to use Ripple Custody, which is a platform built for secure and enterprise-grade storage of digital assets.

“This launch strengthens our long-standing partnership with Ripple and underscores our commitment to the Korean market,” BDACS stated in its announcement.

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

BDACS has also integrated with some of South Korea’s top exchanges like Upbit, Coinone and Korbit. These integrations mean that institutional clients can now hold  XRP across the country’s top trading platforms in a fully compliant way.

Ripple and BDACS’ Partnership

The roots of this launch go back to February, when Ripple Labs and BDACS first announced their partnership. The agreement was focused on allowing institutional custody for XRP and Ripple’s new U.S. dollar–backed stablecoin, RLUSD.

At the time, Ripple said the partnership fit perfectly with South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) roadmap. This roadmap aims to expand the contribution of institutions in the crypto market and establish clearer legal frameworks.

Ripple’s enterprise clients, developers and partners building on the XRP Ledger were also set to benefit. BDACS pointed out that its platform would support tokenisation, stablecoin use cases and developer activity:

Especially in Busan’s blockchain regulation-free zone.

Strong Local Demand for XRP Custody

South Korea has a great deal of interest in crypto, especially XRP. According to BDACS, XRP is one of the most popular assets among Korean investors. That is not surprising considering over 25% of South Koreans aged 20–50 own crypto.

Moreover, XRP regularly ranks among the country’s most traded coins.

In fact, XRP has long had a stronghold in East Asia. Japan, a close neighbour, has also embraced XRP for cross-border payments. Some reports claim that up to 80% of Japanese banks may adopt it for cross-border transfers.

This rising interest from both private and institutional investors is why XRP custody in Korea was seen as such a milestone.

RLUSD and Tokenisation

Alongside XRP, Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin is part of its strategy for institutional finance. RLUSD is backed by U.S. dollar reserves and is built for enterprises looking for a regulated digital dollar option.

BDACS supports both XRP and RLUSD under Ripple Custody. This sets the firm up to help institutions participate in more use cases like tokenised assets and on-chain settlements.

JUST IN: #Cardano $ADA Founder Charles Hoskinson says “probably by 2030, we’re going to have stablecoins grow to about $1T to $2T, and probably about 500M to 1B transactions per month—massive growth. Under-the-hood they’re just tokenized treasuries.” pic.twitter.com/Bl1O20EnHE

— Angry Crypto Show (@angrycryptoshow) July 9, 2025

Ripple has pointed to research that indicates that tokenised assets could represent 10% of global GDP by the next five years, with crypto custody possibly hitting $16 trillion in assets. 

Those numbers help explain why Ripple and BDACS are investing in long-term infrastructure now.