Banks are accelerating into digital assets with custody, stablecoins, and blockchain-driven operations leading the charge—three core shifts Ripple says are redefining institutional finance.
3 Strategic Shifts Powering Banks’ Move Into Digital Assets, Says Ripple
Ripple shared insights last week, emphasizing that institutional adoption of digital assets is accelerating as banks and financial firms expand into tokenization, stablecoin issuance, and blockchain-based operations. The company pointed out that institutions are no longer experimenting at the margins but are moving toward large-scale integration of digital assets into their services. This shift is being driven by growing demand from clients for payments, hedging, and portfolio diversification, as well as by the need for secure infrastructure that can support trillions of dollars in assets. Ripple framed custody as the central component enabling this transition, providing both security and operational reliability.
A key factor in institutional adoption is the assurance that digital assets can be stored and managed without risk of loss or unauthorized access. Ripple underscored the point: “Demand for institutional-grade security is climbing as banks lean into digital asset strategies, launch stablecoin initiatives, and serve clients who increasingly expect access to use digital assets for payments, hedging, and portfolio diversification.” The company added:
And with crypto assets under custody projected to reach $16 trillion by 2030, meeting this rising demand requires a custody solution that prioritizes security while balancing utility.
Stablecoin issuance has also emerged as a strategic entry point for banks and fintech firms, with Société Générale Forge issuing a euro-backed stablecoin on the XRP Ledger and BDACS in South Korea adopting Ripple USD (RLUSD) for institutional transactions.
Governance is the third major driver of adoption, as institutions look to replace slow, fragmented back-office systems with blockchain-based processes for settlement, reconciliation, and reporting. Ripple Custody enables near real-time operations and compliance-focused workflows, giving banks both efficiency and regulatory alignment. These advances illustrate why digital asset adoption among institutions is accelerating: custody provides the trusted infrastructure needed to unlock tokenization and scale digital financial services. Critics warn that reliance on centralized custody may weaken decentralization, but supporters argue regulated custody is essential for enabling institutional participation.