Key Takeaways
- SWIFT’s new blockchain-based shared ledger validates Ripple’s long-standing vision of faster, programmable cross-border payments.
- The system uses tokenized bank deposits rather than XRP, thereby supporting Ripple’s thesis without guaranteeing demand for the token.
- XRP’s opportunity remains in high-cost remittance corridors, where it can reduce settlement times and liquidity requirements.
SWIFT’s move to build a blockchain-based shared ledger marks a turning point for cross-border payments and reads as a validation of Ripple’s case for a decade.
The stakes are enormous: payment instructions carried by SWIFT are associated with roughly $150 trillion in annual transaction value, with daily cross-border flows near $5 trillion.
The catch for XRP holders is that SWIFT’s design does not run on XRP, and nothing in the system requires the token.
What SWIFT Is Actually Building
SWIFT introduced the shared ledger at Sibos 2025 and, on March 30, 2026, said it had completed the design phase and moved to a first minimum viable product, with live transactions targeted this year and more than 40 banks involved.
The ledger uses an Ethereum-compatible architecture built on Hyperledger Besu, with smart contracts to record, sequence, and validate payments around the clock. It settles using tokenized commercial bank deposits that stay inside regulated banking systems, not a public crypto asset.
The groundwork was SWIFT’s full migration to the ISO 20022 messaging standard on November 22, 2025, followed by trials with Citi using USDC, an HSBC and Ant International tokenized-deposit proof-of-concept, and a tokenized-bond settlement with BNP Paribas Securities Services, Intesa Sanpaolo, and Societe Generale FORGE.
SWIFT is separately rolling out a retail payments framework covering more than 50 banks across more than 25 corridors, with the first wave going live by mid-2026.
Why It Validates Ripple’s Thesis
For years, Ripple has argued that correspondent banking is slow, costly, and closed on weekends, and that a shared ledger with programmable settlement fixes those gaps.
Traditional SWIFT transfers still average one to three business days in many corridors, with fees of roughly $10 to $50 per transaction before FX spreads. SWIFT building 24/7 settlement across tokenized deposits confirms the direction Ripple bet on.
The company also benefits well beyond the token. Ripple now holds more than 75 regulatory licenses, counts over 300 financial institutions on its network, runs the RLUSD stablecoin as a settlement option, and has plugged XRP Ledger access into traditional clearing through Ripple Prime (formerly Hidden Road) as a participant in DTCC’s NSCC.
The overlap is striking within SWIFT’s new retail framework: at least 30 of the 50-plus participating banks already have ties to Ripple’s ecosystem, and around 40% of those Ripple-connected banks use On-Demand Liquidity, which requires XRP as a bridge asset. They are building on both tracks rather than choosing one.
Why XRP Does Not Automatically Benefit
SWIFT’s ledger is deliberately neutral and deposit-based, allowing it to move value without touching XRP. SWIFT has positioned itself as an interoperability layer for more than 11,000 institutions and has avoided issuing its own asset or endorsing any chain. RippleNet, the rail most banks use, does not require XRP either.
The scale gap is the hard number behind the headline.
Ripple reports cumulative institutional payment volume of more than $95 billion, with monthly ODL flows exceeding $15 billion. Set against $130 trillion to $150 trillion in annual cross-border volume, even tens of billions in yearly ODL settlement rounds are a fraction of 1% of the market.
Analysts estimate that XRP-linked rails could realistically capture 2% to 3% of SWIFT-scale volume in the near term, while SWIFT retains 75% to 80% of institutional flows.
Any XRP exposure within SWIFT’s orbit can flow through optional paths, such as the Thunes integration, which recently extended stablecoin payouts to all 11,500 SWIFT-connected banks, and creates a routing chain that can settle on Ripple’s ODL rails using XRP. No step in that routing forces a bank to hold or use the token. The result is demand optionality, not guaranteed volume.
Where XRP Could Still Find Demand
The token’s opening sits in the corridors that SWIFT serves the worst. SWIFT acknowledges that about 80% of a payment’s processing time happens in the last mile after funds reach the destination bank, and remittance corridors to low-income destinations can carry total costs near 7%.
Partners such as SBI Remit have used XRP to cut fees from the 3% to 7% range to roughly 0.15% and compress settlement from 36 to 96 hours down to seconds. About 93% of XRP-based cross-border payments settle in under 10 seconds.
Geography reinforces the case.
Roughly 45% of major remittance providers in Asia-Pacific now use blockchain or digital-asset rails alongside or instead of SWIFT, and corridors such as Japan-to-Philippines and UAE-to-Philippines are where Ripple’s local bank partnerships and pre-positioned ODL liquidity run deepest.
By removing pre-funded nostro accounts, ODL also cuts pre-funding and nostro requirements by roughly 65% in institutional corridors, against an estimated $27 trillion in dormant pre-funded liquidity globally.
XRP Ledger is also building an institutional footprint, with tokenized real-world assets on the network rising from roughly $24 million at the start of 2025 to about $408 million, including close to $282 million in US Treasury exposure.
What To Watch
The distinction that matters is between Ripple, the business, and XRP, the asset. SWIFT’s blockchain push strengthens the first by normalizing the model Ripple sells. It does little for the second unless banks actively choose XRP as a bridge in live corridors.
Ripple chief executive officer Brad Garlinghouse has floated XRP carrying 14% of SWIFT-linked value by 2030, which would mean routing roughly $21 trillion a year through XRP liquidity corridors, orders of magnitude above today’s flows.
The signals to track are whether SWIFT’s MVP graduates to production, whether deposit-based settlement crowds out bridge assets in major routes, and whether monthly ODL volume compounds meaningfully beyond the current $15 billion run rate rather than plateauing in its APAC remittance niches.
The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be, nor should it be construed as, financial advice. We do not make any warranties regarding the completeness, reliability, or accuracy of this information. All investments involve risk, and past performance does not guarantee future results. We recommend consulting a financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
Dr. Guneet Kaur is a senior editor at CCN.com and a Science Fellow at Exponential Science. She is a fintech and blockchain expert with extensive experience in digital finance education, blockchain ecosystems, and cryptocurrency markets. She has worked with global media such as Cointelegraph, as well as education and blockchain platforms, to design and lead strategic content and learning initiatives. As an educator and assessor for top-tier executive programs, she bridges real-world fintech trends with academic insight.
Dr. Kaur is also a published researcher and peer reviewer across fintech and data science journals, including Financial Innovation Journal and International Journal of Big Data Intelligence and Applications. Her work spans data-driven analysis, Web3 innovation, and technical content development. With a strong foundation in both industry and academia, she translates complex financial technologies into practical applications, empowering learners, professionals, and institutions across the rapidly evolving digital finance landscape.
