Ripple is set to host its largest Swell conference yet from October 27 to 29, 2026, at The Shed in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards, drawing an expected 1,500 senior decision-makers from traditional finance, digital assets, academia and the XRP ecosystem. For the first time, the company is merging its flagship Swell institutional summit with the XRPL Apex developer and investor meeting and the UBRI Connect academic research conference into a single three-day program.

Organizers plan more than 80 sessions across three stages with upwards of 100 speakers. The agenda centers on the intersection of traditional finance and blockchain infrastructure, covering real-world asset tokenization, bank-ready stablecoin systems, liquidity and settlement improvements, artificial intelligence-driven payments, and post-quantum security developments for the XRP Ledger.

High-Profile Speakers and Institutional Focus

Ripple Chief Executive Brad Garlinghouse is scheduled to lead key sessions on the opening days, while President Monica Long and CTO Emeritus David Schwartz will address institutional strategy and the future direction of the XRP Ledger. Confirmed participants include Terry Duffy, chairman and chief executive of CME Group; Tom Farley, chief executive of Bullish; and senior representatives from BNY, Coinbase, Robinhood, Barclays, State Street, Jump Trading and Intercontinental Exchange.

Actor Matt Damon will appear alongside Gary White, co-founder and chief executive of Water.org, to discuss innovative financing approaches for global water access. Additional newly announced speakers include Luca Cosentino of Cross River, R.P. Eddy of Ergo, Lucas Zandona Gomes of RedotPay and Kazım Rıfat Özyılmaz of Arf. One report also notes participation from representatives of BlackRock and the International Monetary Fund in the exclusive Platinum Summit track aimed at major financial institutions.

Sessions will examine the first year of spot XRP exchange-traded funds, which launched in late 2025, with panels such as “The First 365 Days: Lessons from the First Spot XRP ETF” exploring custody, liquidity and regulated access. Discussions will also address institutional payments, crypto markets and the technical evolution of the XRP Ledger.

Recent Partnerships Expanding RLUSD and Ecosystem Reach

Ahead of the conference, Ripple has announced several partnerships intended to broaden use of its RLUSD stablecoin and related services. Arf, a global settlement platform, is working with Ripple to provide RLUSD-backed liquidity to licensed cross-border payment firms operating on the XRP Ledger. Cross River Bank will integrate RLUSD into its core banking platform via the ledger.

In South Korea, Meritz Securities has partnered with Ripple to deliver institutional-grade custody and tokenization services, becoming the company’s first securities firm partner in the country after earlier agreements with Kyobo Life Insurance, Kbank and Jeonbuk Bank. Ripple is also collaborating with Privy, a Stripe-affiliated company, to introduce embedded wallets on the XRP Ledger that support programmable, AI-agent-driven transactions. A joint session with DriveWealth is planned to explore RLUSD for international brokerage settlement and funding.

Community reactions to the claim have been mixed, with some participants expressing skepticism based on past conferences and others awaiting concrete developments. No new product launches have been confirmed in connection with the event itself.

Technical and Research Tracks

The combined format brings developers, researchers and executives together for the first time. Technical sessions will cover proposed native lending features on the XRP Ledger, which still require validator approval, as well as infrastructure updates and scaling challenges for institutional adoption. Academic discussions under the University Blockchain Research Initiative will focus on research and innovation across Ripple’s global university network.

Swell has historically served as a platform for major partnership and product announcements. This year’s expanded scale and multi-track structure position the gathering as a central meeting point for participants examining the practical integration of blockchain systems into mainstream financial operations.