South Korea’s Jeonbuk Bank has partnered with Ripple to deploy a blockchain-based cross-border payment system for its business customers, marking one of the most significant institutional adoptions of the technology by a traditional Korean financial institution to date. The announcement came during a week in which Asian regulators and financial firms moved in sharply different directions: South Korea pushed to expand enforcement powers over unregistered crypto businesses, Japan granted its first crypto exchange license in four years, and Pakistan formally opened its licensing portal for virtual asset service providers.

The Jeonbuk Bank service targets import-export companies, technology startups, and online content creators. Ripple…