Standard Chartered opens RLUSD custody in Dubai
Standard Chartered has started institutional custody for Ripple USD on the XRP Ledger. The service runs through its Dubai International Financial Centre branch, which is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority. Eligible institutional clients can hold and manage RLUSD through the bank’s digital asset custody setup.
The bank says the service is live now. That matters because stablecoin custody is often a sticking point for institutions. Many firms want exposure to digital assets but do not want to manage private keys or move tokens across venues. Standard Chartered is betting that regulated custody can bridge that gap.
Jack McDonald, Ripple’s senior vice president of stablecoins, said RLUSD was built for this kind of institutional use case. Waqar Chaudry, Standard Chartered’s global head of digital assets, said institutional clients want to take part in digital asset markets without giving up control over how assets are safeguarded or how risk is managed. The statements are not surprising, but they line up with the bank’s push into digital asset services.
LMAX plans to accept RLUSD as collateral
The next phase involves LMAX Group, an institutional trading marketplace. Under the planned arrangement, clients could keep their RLUSD at Standard Chartered and use its value as collateral on LMAX. They would not need to transfer the tokens directly to the trading platform.
That design could reduce some operational friction. Institutions often prefer assets to stay with a qualified custodian rather than sit on an exchange. Still, the plan is not live. It depends on final agreements, testing, and regulatory approval. So far, it is a roadmap item, not a finished service.
Luke Dorney, head of custody at LMAX Group, said the arrangement would give clients greater flexibility in how they hold and deploy RLUSD. That is the commercial pitch. The regulatory and technical work remains.
Singapore expansion and what comes next
Standard Chartered is also expanding its digital asset services beyond the UAE. It plans to launch stablecoin custody for institutional clients in Singapore by the end of 2026. That timeline is notable because it stretches more than a year out, and such plans can shift.
For now, the Dubai custody service is the concrete piece. The LMAX collateral integration is the more ambitious part. If approved and tested, it could let institutions use RLUSD for trading without moving tokens off the bank’s books.
But there are caveats. The collateral service is not yet available. Ripple, Standard Chartered, and LMAX still need to complete the required steps. Until then, the announcement is mainly about intent and early infrastructure. The market will watch whether clients actually use the custody product and whether the collateral plan clears regulatory review.
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