Ripple Executive: "Korea's Digital Asset Market Will Grow Rapidly with Clear Regulations" [APEX 2025]

Fiona Murray, APAC General Manager at Ripple

Marcus Infanger, Senior Vice President at RippleX

Exclusive Press Briefing in Singapore

Korea, Still Difficult for Overseas Companies to Enter

Positive Views on "High Growth Potential"

XRP and RLUSD Have a Complementary Relationship

"Compared to other countries, it is true that regulations on virtual assets (cryptocurrencies) in Korea lack clarity. However, since retail investors show high interest in virtual assets, I believe the growth potential will be enormous if regulations become clear."

Fiona Murray, APAC General Manager at Ripple, made these remarks at a press briefing for the 'APEX 2025' event held at the Rebels City Convention Center in Singapore on the 11th (local time). This was an exclusive briefing with domestic media, offering a closer look at Ripple's views on the Korean market.

When asked whether she had heard rumors about Ripple entering Korea's payments market, Murray said, "I'm happy just at the prospect that Ripple might be able to participate in Korea's payments market," but also commented, "Korea is a difficult market for overseas companies to enter."

She explained that currently, Ripple is focusing on the custody (trust) business for institutions rather than the payments market. Murray added, "Ripple is also paying close attention to Korea's digital asset regulatory environment," and "especially, we have high expectations regarding the roadmap for institutional adoption." She continued, "Currently, Ripple's strategy for the Korean market centers on XRP and custody," and emphasized that "any institution wishing to use Ripple's services is always welcome."

She also rated the potential of the Korean market highly. Murray said, "Korea is just getting started in areas like tokenization and stablecoins (digital assets linked to fiat currency)," but noted, "Among Korean retail investors, digital assets including XRP are already very popular, so if we can start such a business, the speed of growth will be tremendous."

She also offered advice on digital asset innovation in the Middle East, including Dubai. Recently, the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) officially approved Ripple's stablecoin RLUSD, enabling RLUSD to be used officially within the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

Marcus Infanger, Senior Vice President at RippleX, stated, "In Dubai, payments using RLUSD can now be made officially under the name 'Ripple Payments'," adding, "Ripple is directly participating in the real estate registration tokenization project through cooperation with the Dubai Land Agency."

There were concerns expressed about the possibility of capital flows concentrating in certain countries. Murray said, "Competition in digital assets is intensifying not only in the Asia-Pacific region, but globally," and "Dubai is absorbing global capital by embracing tokenization led by its government and institutions." She continued, "I hope such innovation does not entirely shift to the Middle East," and stressed, "We need to take action."

Finally, there was further explanation about the relationship between the XRP token, of high interest to Korean retail investors, and the stablecoin RLUSD. Since Ripple announced the issuance of RLUSD, there have been concerns among investors that RLUSD might siphon off remittance demand from XRP.

Infanger explained that XRP and RLUSD are not in a competitive relationship, but rather a complementary one. He said, "RLUSD is a means to attract liquidity to the XRP Ledger, and as assets accumulate on the XRP Ledger, demand for XRP also increases." He added, "XRP is the gas token of the XRP Ledger and will always have priority on the XRP Ledger."

Singapore=Jin Wook, Bloomingbit reporter wook9629@bloomingbit.io