August 18, Ripple announced that Jeonbuk Bank became the first regional bank in South Korea to deploy Ripple Payments.
On the same day, XRP fell below $1.
Good news and a bad price happen at the same time.
Founded in 1969, Jeonbuk Bank is part of JB Financial Group and a leading lender in its province.
It plans to replace SWIFT with Ripple Payments.
Previously, cross-border remittances via SWIFT took days. Now with Ripple Payments, it takes seconds to minutes, running 24/7.
This is Ripple’s third institutional partnership in South Korea this year.
Previously, it had already partnered with KBank (digital asset custody and wallet infrastructure) and Kyobo Life Insurance (tokenized government bond settlement).
Ripple’s penetration into South Korea’s banking infrastructure is visibly expanding.
But for Jeonbuk Bank’s cross-border settlement, what currency will it use?
In Ripple’s official announcement, it describes “stablecoin cross-border settlement.” CoinDesk directly asked Ripple whether Jeonbuk Bank’s fund flows actually use XRP.
Ripple did not respond.
Multiple reports said Jeonbuk Bank’s transactions did not use XRP as a cryptocurrency.
The KBank pilot used stablecoin-based settlement, not treating XRP as a bridging asset.
Over the past year, Ripple has been promoting its RLUSD stablecoin as an institutional settlement asset.
Each transaction confirmed that Ripple’s infrastructure was used, but none confirmed that XRP was used.
Ripple is winning. But XRP may not be.
Ripple’s institutional partnerships are “a victory at the company level,” while XRP’s token price is “a battle at the token level.”
In the past, you could draw a straight line between the two—Ripple gets customers = XRP rises.
But that no longer holds.
Ripple is using the RLUSD stablecoin and fiat rails to absorb more and more settlement volume. The need for XRP as a bridging asset is being bypassed.
On August 19, XRP was trading at $0.99, testing the $1 level for the ninth consecutive trading day.
Compared with the $3.65 peak in July 2025, it has fallen by about 73%.
Ripple’s bank partnership model is evolving—from “settling with XRP” to “settling with Ripple’s infrastructure.”
For Ripple the company, this is good news. It’s more flexible, more compliant, and banks are more willing to adopt it.
But for XRP holders, it’s a nightmare.
Because XRP’s only value narrative is adoption.
If the adoption uses Ripple’s technology rather than XRP’s token, what valuation logic is left for XRP?
On the same day, XRP fell below $1.
Good news and a bad price happen at the same time.
Founded in 1969, Jeonbuk Bank is part of JB Financial Group and a leading lender in its province.
It plans to replace SWIFT with Ripple Payments.
Previously, cross-border remittances via SWIFT took days. Now with Ripple Payments, it takes seconds to minutes, running 24/7.
This is Ripple’s third institutional partnership in South Korea this year.
Previously, it had already partnered with KBank (digital asset custody and wallet infrastructure) and Kyobo Life Insurance (tokenized government bond settlement).
Ripple’s penetration into South Korea’s banking infrastructure is visibly expanding.
But for Jeonbuk Bank’s cross-border settlement, what currency will it use?
In Ripple’s official announcement, it describes “stablecoin cross-border settlement.” CoinDesk directly asked Ripple whether Jeonbuk Bank’s fund flows actually use XRP.
Ripple did not respond.
Multiple reports said Jeonbuk Bank’s transactions did not use XRP as a cryptocurrency.
The KBank pilot used stablecoin-based settlement, not treating XRP as a bridging asset.
Over the past year, Ripple has been promoting its RLUSD stablecoin as an institutional settlement asset.
Each transaction confirmed that Ripple’s infrastructure was used, but none confirmed that XRP was used.
Ripple is winning. But XRP may not be.
Ripple’s institutional partnerships are “a victory at the company level,” while XRP’s token price is “a battle at the token level.”
In the past, you could draw a straight line between the two—Ripple gets customers = XRP rises.
But that no longer holds.
Ripple is using the RLUSD stablecoin and fiat rails to absorb more and more settlement volume. The need for XRP as a bridging asset is being bypassed.
On August 19, XRP was trading at $0.99, testing the $1 level for the ninth consecutive trading day.
Compared with the $3.65 peak in July 2025, it has fallen by about 73%.
Ripple’s bank partnership model is evolving—from “settling with XRP” to “settling with Ripple’s infrastructure.”
For Ripple the company, this is good news. It’s more flexible, more compliant, and banks are more willing to adopt it.
But for XRP holders, it’s a nightmare.
Because XRP’s only value narrative is adoption.
If the adoption uses Ripple’s technology rather than XRP’s token, what valuation logic is left for XRP?