Ripple, the blockchain payments company, has partnered with Kyobo Life Insurance, one of South Korea's three largest life insurers, to pilot the country's first tokenised government bond settlement on blockchain.
Kyobo, which manages more than $92 billion in assets and holds a Moody's A1 credit rating, will use Ripple Custody, the company's institutional digital asset platform, to hold, transfer and settle tokenised bonds.
The pilot aims to compress the standard two-day settlement cycle for Korean government bonds to near real-time execution, with both the bond and payment legs settling simultaneously on a single ledger.
Under the current system, Korean government bond trades pass through multiple intermediaries including brokerages, commercial banks and the Korea Exchange, creating counterparty risk and tying up capital.
The partnership also opens the door to stablecoin-powered payment rails, with Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin already listed on Korean exchange Coinone.
The project has been in development since September 2024 and remains in a trial environment, with no confirmed date for a live rollout.
South Korea's National Assembly approved amendments to the Capital Markets Act and Electronic Securities Act in January, formally recognising blockchain-based distributed ledgers as valid securities registries, with the new framework due to take effect in January 2027.
Related reading
- Bitcoin steadies near $75,700 as $7.9bn options expiry looms
- Bitcoin tops $75,000 as geopolitical de-escalation and short squeeze drive broad crypto rally
- Goldman Sachs files for Bitcoin income ETF using covered-call options strategy
Boston Consulting Group has projected South Korea's tokenised securities market could reach approximately 367 trillion won, roughly $249 billion, by 2030.
The deal extends Ripple's Korean footprint following a 2025 custody partnership with digital asset custodian BDACS, which went live on the country's three largest exchanges last year.
The recap
- Ripple and Kyobo Life Insurance partner to trade bonds in South Korea
- Partnership aims to introduce real-time bond trading capabilities
- News Explorer reported the collaboration; timing and terms not disclosed
