Ripple Pushes Custody Role
Ripple used a Nov. 9 update to focus on custody services for banks that may support Qivalis’ planned euro stablecoin. The company said banks need to protect client holdings, enforce operational controls, and link digital assets with existing systems. Ripple placed those tasks inside its wider services: issuance, custody, governance, settlement, and redemption. It pointed to BBVA and DZ BANK as existing clients.
Cassie Craddock, Ripple’s vice president and managing director, said Europe’s MiCA rules have given banks more confidence to launch digital asset products. I think that framing matters. The stablecoin work is not only about minting a token. Banks also have to decide who holds the keys and who answers for client assets.
Banks Can Keep or Delegate Custody
Ripple said individual banks could keep custody in-house or hand it to another provider. Its technology connects to banking software through APIs, which let systems swap data and instructions. Software-defined policies control access, approvals, separation of duties, and jurisdictional limits. That sounds dry, but these are the rules that decide when a bank can move or freeze assets.
BBVA’s agreement with Ripple supported bitcoin and ether services for retail customers in Spain. Ripple said BBVA kept control of its cryptographic keys and stayed responsible for protecting client assets. The relationship also covers custody operations in Switzerland and Turkey. DZ BANK selected Metaco’s custody platform for institutional digital asset services. Metaco is a Swiss custody technology provider Ripple acquired in 2023. The German bank wanted to handle crypto securities under the country’s Electronic Securities Act within existing capital-market processes. One early use case involved a Siemens tokenized bond held by DZ BANK and Union Investment.
Qivalis Builds Toward Issuance
Qivalis is an Amsterdam-based joint venture that grew to 37 member banks across 15 countries after adding 25 institutions in May. ING, BNP Paribas, BBVA, and DZ BANK are among the participants. The planned token would support payments, settlement, and tokenized assets.
De Nederlandsche Bank granted Qivalis authorization as an electronic money institution. The Dutch central bank’s register lists issuance, distribution, and redemption permissions effective Oct. 13. Qivalis plans a full-reserve model, with each token backed 1:1 by reserves. It would handle issuance and redemption under its own authorizations and technology. Each institution would still decide its customer custody setup.
Qivalis said on Oct. 14 that it aimed to issue within the following months. That remains subject to MiCA requirements and publication of its white paper. Distribution would run through eligible banks, exchanges, payment providers, and financial market infrastructure participants. For Ripple, the pitch is simple: banks may want crypto services, but they still need custody rules that fit their existing controls.
