Ripple Exec Breaks Silence on Game-Changing Custody Move: Details

Reece Merrick, Ripple’s Senior Executive Officer/Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa, has confirmed a groundbreaking partnership that marks a major development for Ripple and the future of real estate on-chain.

Ripple today announced a strategic partnership with Ctrl Alt, which brings institutional digital asset custody to the UAE.

Ctrl Alt will use Ripple's digital asset custody technology to support the Dubai Land Department's (DLD) pioneering Real Estate Tokenization Project by storing Dubai's tokenized real estate title deeds issued on XRP Ledger (XRPL).

With the move, Ctrl Alt has become Ripple's first major custody partner in the UAE, highlighting the region's growing demand for digital asset infrastructure. Ripple's expanding global custody network now comprises clients in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.

Ripple executive reacts

Ripple executive Reece Merrick reacted enthusiastically to the move, describing it as a game-changing partnership. The Dubai Land Department’s Real Estate Tokenization Project positions the country at the heart of the global digital asset industry.

Merrick noted that this is the first time a government real estate registration body in the Middle East has tokenized property title deeds on a public blockchain.

The Ripple executive also stated that the Dubai Land Department (DLD) has chosen the XRP Ledger, which is very exciting and strengthens the XRPL's credentials as the blockchain of choice for important financial use cases. He was particularly delighted that Ctrl Alt has picked Ripple's digital asset custody solution to help with project delivery.

Ripple has gained traction in the UAE after becoming the first blockchain-enabled payments service licensed by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) earlier this year.