XRP News: Ripple Strikes Deal with Absa, Expanding Custody Footprint To Africa

Months after announcing ambitions in the Middle East and Africa region amid burgeoning enterprise crypto adoption, Ripple has partnered with a leading financial institution in Africa to provide institutional crypto custody in the region. This comes a major XRP news for the community amid increasing tokenization and regulatory clarity.

Big XRP News Today: Ripple Partners Absa Bank

Crypto infrastructure firm Ripple has announced a strategic partnership with multinational banking and financial services conglomerate Absa Bank. The move brings Ripple’s institutional digital asset custody solution to South Africa.

The leading bank aims to leverage the institutional-grade digital asset custody technology to provide its clients with scalable and secure storage as tokenization and institutional crypto adoption gain pace in the region.

Absa Group has become Ripple’s first major custody partner in Africa. Reece Merrick, managing director of Middle East and Africa at Ripple, said Absa is one of the most respected and innovative banks in Africa. He added that the partnership underscores Ripple’s commitment to unlocking the potential of digital assets in Africa.

Commenting on the partnership, Absa’s head of digital product and custody Robyn Lawson, said:

As we continue to innovate and respond to the evolving financial ecosystem, we recognise the importance of providing our customers with secure, compliant, and robust custody solutions for their digital assets.

In September, Ripple expanded its USD-backed stablecoin Ripple USD (RLUSD) to Africa. It partnered with Chipper Cash, VALR, and Yellow Card for cross-border payments and boosting crypto adoption by institutional and retail clients.

Rising Institutional Demand for Secure Crypto Custody

Amid growing demand for secure, compliant digital asset infrastructure across emerging markets, Ripple bridges the gap between crypto and traditional finance with its services, including crypto custody. The firm has expanded its global custody footprint, which now includes clients across Europe, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Africa.

In September, Spain’s leading bank BBVA partnered with Ripple Custody. The bank trusted Ripple’s institutional-grade digital asset custody solution to secure Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and tokenized assets of retail investors.

With tokenization demand rising, it has partnered with multiple banks such as HSBC and DBS to boost its position in the industry. This supports financial institutions in embracing crypto by meeting regulatory and security requirements.

It is worth mentioning that Ripple has also gotten regulatory clarity regarding acting as a custodian in the U.S. The SEC issued guidance that allows investment advisers to use state-chartered trust companies as qualified custodians for crypto assets.

Price jumped over 1% over the past 24 hours amid the positive XRP news, with the price currently trading at $2.50. The 24-hour low and high are $2.41 and $2.53, respectively. Furthermore, trading volume has dropped by 20% in the last 24 hours.