Ripple recently hosted its ninth annual Swell Conference in New York, bringing together financial pioneers from around the world. Covered live by CoinDesk, the event once again brought together a cross-section of participants from traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi).
The return to the world’s financial capital seemed timely as speakers repeatedly highlighted the changing role of blockchain in global finance from speculative to operational. Conversations ranged from the current state of crypto to the exciting opportunities ahead, while also addressing regulatory hurdles, increased utility, and potential new applications.
Read on to discover the five themes that emerged during the event.
1. Real-world utilities overshadow experimentation
Throughout the two-day event, there was consensus that blockchain-related projects have moved from pilot stage to production. From on-chain finance to stablecoin payments, speakers shared the use cases for digital assets that are actively delivering tangible business benefits and value today.
“When we started this project…” was a common refrain heard throughout the stages – a nod to how far the industry has progressed from early proofs of concept in such a short time.
Ripple President Monica Long set the tone in her keynote by highlighting the many ways customers are deploying Ripple solutions. Braza Bank and Zand Bank use Ripple Payments to expand into new markets and offer real-time US payments. Corpay operates the stablecoin Ripple USD (RLUSD) in its corporate treasury operations. And DBS Bank is now using Ripple Custody to move capital markets activity on-chain.
All of these examples highlight the broader shift that financial institutions and businesses have made in operationalizing and monetizing crypto within their existing financial offerings and workflows.
Dan Chen, CFO of Gemini, summed up this sentiment perfectly: “Crypto will be at the heart of all financial services. »
2. TradFi-DeFi convergence accelerates
At Swell, discussions on stablecoins, RWA tokenization, and digital asset custody dominated discussions. All three serve as bridges between TradFi and DeFi, allowing financial institutions and businesses to apply the benefits of crypto and blockchain to existing products and strategies.
With nearly $3 trillion in projected on-chain transaction volume, a 90% year-over-year increase, stablecoins have become the operational treasury layer for digital finance. RLUSD alone has surpassed $1 billion in market capitalization and is actively leveraged for cross-border payments, global stablecoin and foreign exchange settlement, and as collateral in capital markets.
RWA tokenization was touted by Rory Callagy, Managing Director of Moody’s Investors Services, as the next big thing in asset management after the ETF. The ability to represent money market funds, stocks, carbon credits, or anything else of value as a token on a blockchain confers the benefits of instant settlement, enhanced liquidity, fractional ownership, and 24/7 trading. Nicola White, Robinhood’s vice president of crypto institutions, said that at some point we will stop talking about tokenization and just highlight the actual products, because the supporting technology will become so commonplace that it will be invisible.
Not surprisingly, all roads in Swell seemed to lead to detention. Banking executives around the world have agreed that digital asset custody is the starting point for any institutional crypto initiative. It provides the security, compliance and management foundation that allows institutions to engage with tokenized assets and stablecoins at scale. As Michela Rabbia, Product Manager for Financial Institutions at Intesa Sanpaolo says: “Curation is the starting point of innovation. »
3. Crypto has become institutional
If recent years have been marked by retail enthusiasm for crypto, 2025 has been marked by institutional adoption. Whether it’s new crypto-related IPOs, the adoption of corporate treasury, or the growing demand for XRP through exchange-traded products (ETPs), crypto has taken center stage as a strategic priority.
Institutional leaders at Swell have spoken confidently about their crypto strategies, and many predict that corporates and treasury teams will drive a new wave of adoption. Hunter Horsley, CEO of Bitwise, captured the mood: “I have never seen it seem more inevitable than right now that crypto will become a dominant asset class. »
The push to integrate crypto into daily business workflows is driven by the benefits of real-time settlement, liquidity mobility, and 24/7 trading. But these same benefits also make crypto attractive to philanthropy and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Both are looking to solutions like RLUSD and Ripple Payments to enable faster movement of money for global aid delivery and funding. Chef José Andrés, founder of the nonprofit World Central Kitchen, joined Ripple co-founder and Executive Chairman Chris Larsen in a fireside chat that addressed this growing use case.
4. Global regulations and standards are the sector’s biggest asset
Although there was general optimism about global regulatory dynamics – from the European MiCA framework to the progress surrounding the US GENIUS Act – speakers agreed that there was still work to be done. Standardization across markets has emerged as a rallying cry. Cross-licensing regimes, harmonized reporting requirements and interoperable standards were cited by several panelists as key enablers for mass adoption.
Sandy Kaul, chief innovation officer at Franklin Templeton, has even called for instant, shared identity frameworks across companies and international borders. She believes we need to revisit how technologies like zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) could enable a new era of transparency.
His fellow panelists agreed that global standards are needed, saying the real obstacles to scale are not technological issues, but human or regulatory issues.
It is clear that with the technology ready, the political scaffolding must now catch up.
5. Ripple’s M&A strategy
With six major acquisitions in two years, a new $40 billion valuation, and an expansion of payments, custody, stablecoin, and prime brokerage solutions, Ripple is clearly positioning itself as the one-stop infrastructure provider for institutions looking to move value as information evolves today.
Ripple customers increasingly reflect this reality. Global banks, corporations, asset managers, exchanges and NGOs use Ripple solutions to move money, secure and manage assets, settle markets and provide aid at speeds and efficiency that traditional railways cannot match.
CEO Brad Garlinghouse made his ambition clear: “Ripple aspires – and I think we are clearly leading – to be the blockchain infrastructure company.
View additional images from Ripple Swell 2025 or contact our sales team to get started on your blockchain strategy today.
