Ripple has unveiled the full agenda for Swell 2026, revealing a speaker roster.
The impressive list of speakers goes beyond the cryptocurrency industry and includes senior figures from Wall Street, global banking, academia and so on. Superstar actor and Water.org co-founder Matt Damon will also take part in the event.
Damon will appear alongside Water.org co-founder and CEO Gary White in one of the conference’s keynote conversations, with Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse set to moderate the discussion.
More than 1,500 people
Swell will take place from Oct. 27-29 at The Shed in New York City. Ripple says more than 1,500 people will attend,
For the first time, the company is merging its flagship Swell conference with XRP Ledger-focused Apex and UBRI Connect, its academic gathering for members of Ripple’s University Blockchain Research Initiative.
Matt Damon’s unusual role
Damon will make an appearance in his capacity as co-founder of Water.org, the nonprofit he created with Gary White in 2009.
Ripple says Damon and White will explain how financial infrastructure can address the hot-button issue of moving money quickly and cheaply.
The discussion will be built around Water.org’s financing model and the organization’s existing relationship with Ripple.
Ripple says its Payments platform and dollar-backed RLUSD stablecoin will make Water.org’s work across Asia, Africa and Latin America more efficient. Notably, Garlinghouse will moderate the Damon-White conversation.
Wall Street heavyweights join Swell
Tom Farley, chairman and CEO of crypto exchange operator Bullish and a former president of the New York Stock Exchange, will discuss the convergence of crypto and traditional finance.
Garlinghouse will separately moderate a conversation with Farley.
Robinhood’s Johann Kerbrat, senior vice president and general manager of Crypto and International, will join Ripple President Monica Long.
BNY Global Head of Markets Laide Majiyagbe is another major traditional-finance name. She will appear with Tradeweb CEO Billy Hult for a discussion about changes in trading, liquidity and other aspects.
David Schwartz returns to XRP Ledger spotlight
Meanwhile, David Schwartz, Ripple’s CTO Emeritus and one of the original architects of the XRP Ledger, will share the stage with RippleX Senior Director of Engineering Ayo Akinyele. Their fireside chat will focus on the future technical development of XRPL (privacy, scalability and so on).
