Ripple, XRP and Swift: What Is Actually Connected

On 29 September 2025 Swift announced that it would add a blockchain-based shared ledger to its infrastructure, designed with more than 30 banks. In its words, the work is “focused on a first use case of real-time 24/7 cross-border payments and starting with a conceptual prototype by Consensys” (Swift press release).

On 30 March 2026 Swift said the ledger had moved from design to building: “The ledger MVP is being built on open-source foundations, using an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible architecture based on Hyperledger Besu.” Its first job is to connect banks’ tokenised deposits for 24/7 cross-border payments (Swift news).

Neither page mentions XRP, the XRP Ledger or Ripple.

• Treasury software. Ripple Treasury, Ripple’s software for company finance teams, says it “is part of the SWIFT Certified Partner Program” and offers “hosting options for SWIFT’s Alliance Lite2 platform”, plus SWIFTRef data for IBAN lookups (Ripple Treasury partners). This connects a company’s treasury system to its banks through Swift. It does not involve XRP.
• The message standard. Banks on Swift are moving to ISO 20022, a standard format for payment messages. In 2020 Ripple announced it had joined the ISO 20022 Registration Management Group, “the first member focused on Distributed Ledger Technology” (Ripple).
• As a competitor. Ripple sells Ripple Payments as an alternative to Swift. Its product page puts it this way: “SWIFT is a messaging system, not a settlement network, payments still route through correspondent banks” (Ripple Payments).

XRP’s job in Ripple’s business is bridging currencies inside Ripple Payments, not inside Swift. Ripple describes Ripple Payments as enabling cross-border transactions “using digital assets such as XRP … to bridge currencies” (Ripple). A payment in one currency is converted to XRP and the XRP to the other currency, so the sender does not need money waiting in the destination country.

XRP itself moves on the XRP Ledger. You can follow its price and the largest accounts on XRP on xrpl.to and the XRP rich list.

Posts that Swift has “approved XRP”, will move its payment volume onto the XRP Ledger, or has chosen XRP for its new ledger have no announcement from Swift or Ripple behind them. Both companies publish their partnerships; the pages above are where such news would appear.