CONFIRMED: the RLUSD custody service is live, according to Standard Chartered’s own release on 12 October 2026. PLANNED: the collateral link with LMAX Group is not live and has no date.
“Standard Chartered today announced that it now supports institutional custody of Ripple USD (RLUSD) issued on the XRP Ledger (XRPL), giving eligible clients access to the Bank’s digital asset custody infrastructure,” the bank said on 12 October [1].
“The service is available through Standard Chartered Bank’s DIFC Branch, which is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA),” it added [1]. The DIFC is the Dubai International Financial Centre, a financial free zone with its own regulator, the DFSA.
Dubai, not Singapore
The release is datelined Singapore, which could confuse. But the service itself runs through the bank’s Dubai (DIFC) branch [1]. Separately, on 8 October Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore) announced plans to offer custody for selected cryptoassets, stablecoins and tokenised real-world assets in Singapore, “subject to applicable regulatory requirements” [2]. That Singapore service is a plan; today’s RLUSD custody is live, via Dubai.
What is RLUSD, and what does custody mean?
RLUSD (Ripple USD) is a stablecoin issued by Ripple: a crypto token designed to stay worth one US dollar. This version lives on the XRP Ledger, a public blockchain.
Custody means safekeeping. Crypto is controlled by secret digital keys; whoever holds the keys controls the coins. Big institutions such as funds often do not want to manage those keys themselves, so they pay a custodian, here a large regulated bank, to hold them securely. Standard Chartered is now offering that for RLUSD.
The planned part: collateral at LMAX
LMAX Group runs trading venues for currencies and crypto. “The parties intend to enable RLUSD as eligible collateral for agreed LMAX Group products and solutions across trading and collateral management,” the release says [1].
Collateral is money or assets a trader puts up as security, so the venue is protected if a trade goes wrong. Normally a trader has to send that collateral to the venue, which means it leaves the custodian and is exposed to the venue’s own risks.
The plan uses what the bank calls “collateral mirroring”. The value of eligible collateral would be mirrored to LMAX “without requiring the underlying RLUSD to be transferred directly to the trading venue” [1]. In plain terms: the coins stay locked up at Standard Chartered, and LMAX is told, and can rely on, how much is there. The bank says the arrangement “is expected to” give clients more flexibility and help “reduce transfer-related operational risk and optimise counterparty exposure while improving capital efficiency” [1].
None of this is switched on yet. “The agreed future capabilities remain subject to final documentation, successful testing, applicable laws and regulations, internal approvals and jurisdictional readiness,” the release says [1].
What the three companies say
“Institutional clients want to participate in digital asset markets without compromising on how their assets are safeguarded or how risk is managed,” said Waqar Chaudry, Global Head of Digital Assets, Securities Services, Transaction Services, Standard Chartered [1].
“By agreeing to adopt Standard Chartered’s collateral mirroring model, we are providing clients with greater flexibility in how they hold and deploy RLUSD across our cross-asset marketplace, while supporting the custody and risk management standards institutions expect,” said Luke Dorney, Head of Custody, Digital Assets, LMAX Group [1].
“RLUSD was built for exactly this kind of institutional use case,” said Jack McDonald, SVP, Stablecoins, Ripple. “Our customers want the efficiency of a regulated stablecoin without giving up the custody standards they already trust” [1].
What is not known
- When, or whether, the LMAX collateral link will go live. No date has been given.
- Which LMAX products will accept RLUSD; the release says only “agreed” products.
Sources
- Standard Chartered, “Standard Chartered launches RLUSD custody and joins planned collateral integration with Ripple and LMAX Group”, 12 October 2026. https://www.sc.com/en/press-release/standard-chartered-launches-rlusd-custody-and-joins-planned-collateral-integration-with-ripple-and-lmax-group/
- Standard Chartered, “Standard Chartered advances into digital asset custody offering in Singapore”, 8 October 2026. https://www.sc.com/en/press-release/standard-chartered-advances-into-digital-asset-custody-offering-in-singapore/
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