Standard Chartered launches custody for Ripple’s RLUSD on XRP Ledger
Standard Chartered has launched institutional custody for Ripple USD (RLUSD) on the XRP Ledger, as the bank continues to expand its crypto-related services.In a Monday statement shared with The Block, Standard Chartered said its custody support for RLUSD is now live, available through its DIFC branch regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority.The bank is working with Ripple and LMAX Group to enable RLUSD as eligible collateral for certain LMAX products under its collateral mirroring model. The arrangement would allow the value of eligible RLUSD collateral to be mirrored to LMAX Group without requiring the underlying assets to be transferred directly to the trading venue.The planned integration remains subject to final documentation, testing, regulatory requirements, and internal approvals, with no launch date announced.Standard Chartered noted that the arrangement is expected to "give institutional clients greater flexibility" in how they hold and trade crypto assets."Institutional clients want to participate in digital asset markets without compromising on how their assets are safeguarded or how risk is managed," said Waqar Chaudry, global head of digital assets at Standard Chartered. "The ecosystem must therefore make it easier for clients to hold assets securely, access liquidity and deploy collateral efficiently within trusted frameworks."Jack McDonald, Ripple's SVP for stablecoins, said that RLUSD was built for "exactly this kind of institutional use case.""Bringing together RLUSD on the XRP Ledger, Standard Chartered's custody capabilities and LMAX Group's institutional trading infrastructure creates a practical path for institutions to put stablecoins to work across global markets," McDonald added.Expanding crypto custody operationsThe latest Ripple arrangement comes as Standard Chartered continues to expand its institutional crypto custody operations across multiple markets.Last week, the bank's Singapore unit said it plans to launch institutional crypto custody services by the end of this year, extending its existing crypto custody footprint in the UAE, Luxembourg, and Hong Kong.In April, Bloomberg reported that Standard Chartered was weighing folding parts of Zodia Custody, the institutional custodian it incubated with Northern Trust in 2020, into its corporate bank division. In May, the bank said its non-binding offer had been accepted.Zodia has maintained a presence in Singapore since September 2023, when it began offering institutional crypto asset services in the city-state. It later expanded into Hong Kong. In June, Zodia secured a payment institution license in Luxembourg, enabling it to provide regulated stablecoin custody and transfer services across the EU.