Kbank becomes the first internet-only bank in Korea to adopt bank-grade asset infrastructure, advancing blockchain capabilities across Korea’s regulated financial sector
From left: Choi Woo-hyung, CEO of Kbank, and Fiona Murray, Managing Director, Asia Pacific at Ripple
SEOUL, April 30, 2026 — Ripple, the leading provider of blockchain-based enterprise solutions across traditional and digital finance, today announced a strategic partnership with Kbank, Korea’s first internet-only bank, to deploy institutional digital asset wallet infrastructure through Ripple Custody, enabling secure, scalable management of digital assets within a regulated banking environment.
Kbank, Korea's most crypto-native bank and exclusive banking partner to some of the country’s largest digital asset exchanges, is expanding its institutional digital asset capabilities through multi-party computation-based wallet infrastructure designed to securely manage assets across multiple blockchain networks. Ripple Custody enables fast wallet provisioning, high-speed transaction signing, and scalable digital asset management, purpose-built for regulated financial institutions.
Building proprietary custody and wallet infrastructure from the ground up is costly, complex, and operationally intensive. Through Ripple Custody’s wallet-as-a-service, Kbank gains bank-grade wallet infrastructure with security controls and scalability built in, enabling the bank to accelerate deployment without the cost, complexity, and operational burden of building and maintaining that infrastructure in-house.The partnership is also expected to support Kbank’s broader strategy to expand its digital asset capabilities across custody, wallet operations, and blockchain-based financial services. By leveraging Ripple Custody, Kbank will be able to explore a more efficient model for institutional digital asset operations while maintaining the security and control required by regulated financial institutions.
Fiona Murray, Managing Director, Asia Pacific at Ripple said, “We are proud to partner Kbank, a financial institution that has defined digital banking in Korea and has consistently led the way in digital innovation. As the first internet-only bank in Korea to deploy Ripple Custody’s wallet-as-a-service infrastructure, Kbank is setting a new benchmark for how regulated financial institutions can build scalable, institutional-grade digital asset capabilities.
Korea is one of the most important markets in our global strategy. Its institutional financial sector is at a genuine inflection point, and Ripple is uniquely positioned as the only company offering the complete digital asset infrastructure stack—spanning custody, wallet infrastructure, payments, and treasury management—to support Korean institutions at every stage of that journey.”
Choi Woo-hyung, CEO of Kbank said, “As Korea's first internet-only bank, we are committed to building infrastructure that supports the future of digital finance. This partnership marks a turning point in advancing our stablecoin-based remittance capabilities. By leveraging Ripple's global network and blockchain technology, we aim to set a new standard for cross-border payments within Korea's evolving financial ecosystem.”