Ripple will bring 1,500 decision-makers from traditional finance, crypto, academia, and the XRP ecosystem to New York City for the Swell 2026 conference, scheduled for October 27–29, 2026, at The Shed in Manhattan.
Combined Event Format
For the first time in the event’s history, Ripple is combining Swell with Apex and UBRI Connect. Apex is described as a summit for developers, institutions, and investors building on the XRP Ledger, while UBRI Connect serves as the academic conference for Ripple’s University Blockchain Research Initiative. The three-day program will feature talks, panels, and discussions focused on the future of finance, drawing leaders from banks, fintechs, corporates, and asset managers.
Speaker Lineup and Ecosystem Partnerships
The speaker lineup includes Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Ripple President Monica Long. The roster also features Terrence Duffy of CME Group and Tom Farley, CEO of Bullish. Senior representatives from BNY, Coinbase, Robinhood, Barclays, State Street, and Jump Trading are included in the lineup. Actor Matt Damon and Gary White, co-founder and CEO of Water.org, will also participate in the event.
New speakers added to the Swell lineup include Luca Cosentino, Head of Digital Assets at Cross River; R.P. Eddy, CEO of Ergo; Lucas Zandoná Gomes, Community Manager at RedotPay; and Kazım Rıfat Özyılmaz, Co-Founder of Arf.
Swell has historically been where Ripple makes its most significant product and partnership announcements. Ahead of the conference, the XRP ecosystem received several partnership updates. Arf announced a partnership with Ripple to bring RLUSD-powered settlement liquidity to licensed cross-border payment companies on the XRP Ledger. Ripple also announced a partnership with Cross River Bank to integrate RLUSD on the XRP Ledger into its core banking platform.
In Asia, Meritz Securities announced a partnership with Ripple to bring institutional-grade custody and tokenization to Korea’s capital markets. Meritz Securities is Ripple’s first securities partner in Korea and its fourth Korean institution partner this year, following Kyobo Life Insurance, Kbank, and Jeonbuk Bank. Additionally, Ripple is partnering with Privy, a Stripe company, to bring embedded wallets to the XRP Ledger. This integration will enable agentic commerce through programmable wallets that allow AI agents to hold funds and transact, including through x402 payments.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where is Swell 2026 taking place?
Swell 2026 is scheduled for October 27–29, 2026, at The Shed in Manhattan, New York City.
Which Korean institutions have partnered with Ripple this year?
Meritz Securities is Ripple’s fourth Korean institution partner this year, following Kyobo Life Insurance, Kbank, and Jeonbuk Bank.
