Standard Chartered said on October 12, 2026 that its custody service for Ripple USD (RLUSD) on the XRP Ledger is live for eligible institutional clients. The service runs through Standard Chartered Bank’s branch in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), which is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), according to the bank’s press release.

The bank also said it is working with Ripple and LMAX Group so that RLUSD held in its custody can serve as collateral at LMAX. That second part is a plan, not a live service.

What is live now

RLUSD is Ripple’s US dollar stablecoin; issuer, reserve and redemption details are in its entry in our stablecoin list. From October 12, institutions that qualify can hold RLUSD issued on the XRP Ledger with Standard Chartered.

For a stablecoin holder, the custodian is a separate link in the chain from the issuer. The issuer owes redemption; the custodian safeguards the tokens on the client’s behalf. Our explainer on how banks hold digital assets covers what that relationship involves.

The three companies intend to make RLUSD eligible collateral for agreed LMAX Group products in trading and collateral management. LMAX would adopt Standard Chartered’s “collateral mirroring” model: the value of eligible collateral is mirrored to LMAX while the RLUSD itself stays in the bank’s custody instead of moving to the trading venue.

The release says this is expected to reduce transfer-related operational risk, help manage counterparty exposure and improve capital efficiency for institutional clients. Those are the companies’ expectations. The release also states that the agreed future capabilities “remain subject to final documentation, successful testing, applicable laws and regulations, internal approvals and jurisdictional readiness,” and gives no launch date.

Who said what

Waqar Chaudry, Standard Chartered’s global head of digital assets for securities services, said institutional clients want to take part in digital asset markets “without compromising on how their assets are safeguarded or how risk is managed.” Luke Dorney, head of custody for digital assets at LMAX Group, called RLUSD “an increasingly important component of institutional digital asset markets.” Jack McDonald, Ripple’s senior vice president for stablecoins, said customers want “the efficiency of a regulated stablecoin without giving up the custody standards they already trust.”

The custody launch is separate from Standard Chartered’s role in Hong Kong, where a Standard Chartered unit is a joint-venture partner in Anchorpoint, one of the two licensed issuers covered in our Hong Kong stablecoin license explainer.

Questions

Can anyone open an RLUSD custody account at Standard Chartered?

No. The bank describes the service as institutional custody for eligible clients, offered through its DFSA-regulated DIFC branch.

Is RLUSD already accepted as collateral at LMAX?

Not yet. The collateral integration is planned and depends on final documentation, testing and approvals.

Which network does the custody service support?

The XRP Ledger, according to the release.

Sources

Standard Chartered press release, October 12, 2026.

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