Ripple Swell 2026: Date, Schedule, Featured Speakers, XRP and RLUSD Impact

Ripple Swell 2026 is scheduled to run on October 27-29, 2026, at The Shed in Hudson Yards, in New York. Organized by Ripple, the big event aims to bring together industry giants in digital assets, blockchain, and finance. The conference also mobilizes the XRP community, researchers, fintech leaders, developers, and financial institutions to discuss the future of payments, onchain economy, regulation, tokenization, and stablecoins like RLUSD.

What has increased interest in Ripple Swell this year is the announcement that Ripple will combine Swell and Apex as one bigger event. This new format will feature more than 75 speakers, three stages, and over 50 sessions. 

Topics to be covered include Real World Asset (RWA) tokenization, XRPL infrastructure, financial inclusion, DeFi, RLUSD, payments, and regulation, among others.

Who is on the Ripple Swell 2026 Speaker Lineup?

The Swell speaker lineup reflects the focus of the event on where traditional finance meets blockchain innovation. President Monica Long and CEO Brad Garlinghouse at Ripple are expected to lead discussions around the future of payments and the adoption of digital assets. 

Garlinghouse has long positioned the global payment giant as a solution that bridges institutional finance and blockchain infrastructure. In a recent tweet,  he emphasized on the significance of the gathering at Ripple Swell this year. He said:

10 years of Swell converging with real scale, institutional adoption, and Swell + Apex together for the first time this fall.

He added that Ripple has been looking forward to this moment.

On the other hand, the company’s CTO Emeritus David Schwartz will focus on the evolution of the XRP Ledger and its growing developer ecosystem. 

External speakers across the wider financial industry will also be featured to add a different perspective to the conversation. The CEO at Tradeweb, Billy Hult, is expected to bring his perspective on capital markets as tokenization moves closer to real-world adoption, while Tom Farley, Chairman and CEO of Bullish, will discuss the future of institutional crypto infrastructure

Hollywood actor and Water.org co-founder Matt Damon is also joining Brad Garlinghouse, David Schwartz, as a speaker at Ripple’s conference. His discussion will focus on how Water.org uses Ripple Payments and RLUSD to efficiently move funds across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

The Swell team notes that Water.org has mobilized $7.7 billion and reached 88 million people through its water and sanitation programs.

Matt Damon, co-founder of @Water, is coming to Ripple Swell — October 27-29 in NYC.

What connects cross-border payments and clean water for 200 million people?

He’s going to tell you how @Water is leveraging Ripple Payments and $RLUSD to accelerate money movement and drive… pic.twitter.com/8lsnlbsvvw

— Swell (@RippleSwell) June 17, 2026

Will RLUSD Become a Key Talking Point at Ripple Swell 2026?

RLUSD is likely to remain the main topic of conversation at the event, as interest in stablecoins by financial institutions continues to grow. RLUSD stablecoin has achieved major milestones, including going live on Ethereum layer-2 networks. 

The token is part of the company’s payment strategy to speed up settlements, while allowing businesses to access a regulated digital dollar within its broader payments ecosystem.

What Does the Future Hold for XRP and the XRP Ledger?

The Swell conference will give a closer look at Ripple’s long-term vision for the XRP Ledger and how its growing role in global payments, tokenized assets, and interoperability. 

The company has previously emphasized that its network offers low fees, fast settlement speeds, and has completed billions of transactions. 

The expected attendance of policymakers, developers, and leaders at the Ripple Swell 2026 demonstrates a broader industry move toward real-world blockchain application, instead of speculation. 

The CTO Emeritus, David Schwartz, has noted the focus remains on how builders are using XRP Ledger and XRP across payments, AI, DeFi, tokenization, and emerging technologies. Whether the event temporarily drives up XRP price or not, the crypto market is yet to see.