XRP Slips 1.1% After Jeonbuk Bank Ditches SWIFT for Ripple Payments

South Korea's Jeonbuk Bank has replaced the SWIFT network with Ripple Payments, a shift that left XRP, the Ripple-affiliated altcoin, down 1.1% over the past 24 hours. The regional lender announced the move on Aug. 18, saying it expects faster and more flexible cross-border payment flows. The bank said the infrastructure should reduce reliance on the multi-step correspondent-banking chain and make international transfers quicker for its customers. Ripple's system combines a payout-partner network with blockchain-based rails, operates around the clock, and can supply liquidity outside conventional banking hours; its existing Asia-Pacific infrastructure already supports Korean won payouts, meaning a client in Korea can move money outside standard settlement windows. Ripple describes the platform as an always-on alternative to correspondent banking, and Jeonbuk Bank becomes the company's third South Korean partnership in 2026. However, the bank's statement did not say that XRP itself will be used to settle the transactions, nor did it disclose which asset would support the payment flow. Ripple integrated RLUSD, its dollar-denominated stablecoin — an asset class distinct from algorithmic stablecoins — into Ripple Payments in 2025, but Jeonbuk Bank's announcement left the settlement asset unconfirmed. Market data shows XRP slipped 1.1% in the 24 hours after the news, a sign that the adoption play did not spark immediate buying pressure.

Ripple's wider push across South Korea has been underway for more than a year. Earlier in 2026, the company partnered with Kbank, Korea's first internet-only bank, clearing the way for Kbank to build digital-asset wallet infrastructure through Ripple Custody, an institutional-grade storage service. Kbank's digital-only model makes it a natural fit for that custody offering. That was followed in April by a collaboration with Kyobo Life Insurance, with the two companies testing blockchain-based systems aimed at shortening settlement times. In 2025, Ripple also reached a separate agreement with South Korean custodian BDACS, which said it would use Ripple Custody to provide institutional custody services for RLUSD and XRP. Beyond Korea, Ripple committed more than $5 million in additional University Blockchain Research Initiative funding across the Asia-Pacific region in 2025. Then, in June 2026, Ripple and SBI Holdings launched RLUSD in Japan after receiving approval from the Japan Financial Services Agency. Taken together, these steps illustrate a broader strategy: Ripple is positioning its payments, custody and stablecoin products as an alternative to correspondent-banking infrastructure throughout Asia, with the Jeonbuk Bank deal adding a payments-focused layer to that blueprint even though XRP's role in the settlement flow remains unconfirmed.

The Jeonbuk Bank agreement was formalized at a signing ceremony attended by Fiona Murray, Ripple's head of Asia-Pacific, and Jeonbuk Bank CEO Park Choon-won, according to Ripple's disclosure. Ripple released a photo of the two executives at the event, signaling the strategic importance both sides placed on the signing. With the agreement, Jeonbuk Bank becomes the first bank in South Korea to introduce Ripple Payments. The institution said the rail can settle cross-border transactions in seconds, bypassing the multi-step intermediary process common under the legacy SWIFT network. It plans to offer faster, transparent and cost-efficient remittance services to exporters, IT startups and online content creators operating globally. The two sides said they will pursue comprehensive cooperation on innovative cross-border payment systems. Park described the partnership as a “new growth engine” and said it would help lead a shift in the financial paradigm, while Murray said the bank's adoption means Korean client firms can receive near-real-time cross-border settlement and represents meaningful progress for the local financial ecosystem. Ripple additionally framed the alliance as support for building a next-generation digital finance ecosystem, tying the bank's move to its broader push into Korean digital finance.

Beyond Asia, Ripple is also pushing into Latin America: the company has submitted a license application to Brazil's central bank as part of its move into the Brazilian market, according to Ripple's disclosures. The application was reported on the same day as the Jeonbuk Bank agreement, underscoring Ripple's simultaneous expansion across multiple regions. While the Korea deal adds a payments-focused layer to Ripple's Asian footprint, the Brazil filing signals intent to carry the same model to a new continent. No further details on the license's status or expected timeline were provided, and the application remains subject to regulatory review.

XRP slipped below the $1 threshold on Tuesday, extending its weekly decline to more than 2% and making it the weakest major token over both the 24-hour and seven-day windows, even as Ripple signed its third Korean bank partnership of the year. The drop underscores the widening gap between institutional adoption and token price, with RLUSD — the dollar-pegged stablecoin Ripple issues — accounting for $845 million of the $1.38 billion in tokenized real-world assets on the XRP Ledger, more than three-fifths of everything issued there. Futures positioning remained bullish despite the slide: open interest stood near $2.78 billion, with more than three long positions for every short on Binance and a similar ratio on OKX, even as social commentary around XRP turned its most negative in three months.

(as of 08:20 UTC) Across the day's disclosures, one theme stands out: Ripple is packaging payments, custody and stablecoins into an integrated alternative to legacy cross-border rails and signing financial institutions to prove the model works. The primary authority for this reading is Ripple's Aug. 18 disclosure, which confirms the partnership, Jeonbuk Bank's status as the first domestic lender to adopt Ripple Payments, and a plan for comprehensive cooperation on cross-border settlement — while leaving XRP's role unstated. For our market desk, the muted 1.1% XRP move suggests investors are waiting for that settlement-level detail before pricing the partnership into the token; adoption news alone does not automatically shift a bear-market narrative, nor does it guarantee a push toward a new all-time high.