Ripple has announced that actor and Water.org co-founder Matt Damon will be a featured speaker at the upcoming Swell 2026 conference in New York. David Schwartz, Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer Emeritus, responded with a humorous remark referencing Damon’s movie roles, suggesting Swell is “finally” a place “he won’t need to be rescued from.” The comment referenced the company’s official statement that Damon will join the stage later this month.
Swell 2026 Unites Institutional, Developer Communities
For the first time, the annual XRP ecosystem event will merge Ripple Swell and the XRPL Apex developer summit. The joint conference will take place at The Shed in Hudson Yards from October 27 to 29, and organizers expect more than 1,500 participants. Over three stages and more than 50 sessions, the event aims to bring institutional leaders and XRPL developers together.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, President Monica Long, Chief Technology Officer Emeritus David Schwartz, along with Matt Damon and Water.org CEO Gary White, are among the main speakers. The agenda is structured to explore how faster cross-border settlement can directly benefit microfinance partners, rather than focusing on new product launches.
Matt Damon is set to join Ripple leadership and Water.org’s Gary White at Swell 2026, where the agenda centers on using fast cross-border settlement to scale microfinance partnerships globally.
Water.org’s Expanding Use of Ripple Payments and RLUSD
Water.org, established in 2009 by Matt Damon and engineer Gary White, partners with local financial institutions to provide low-cost loans for household water and sanitation projects. To date, the organization has mobilized about $7.7 billion, positively impacting nearly 88 million people across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Earlier this year, Ripple became the exclusive digital-asset and payments partner for Water.org’s Get Blue campaign, which was introduced at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The campaign seeks to increase access to safe water for 200 million people by 2030. Founding corporate supporters include Amazon, Ecolab, Gap, and Starbucks.
Water.org now routes donations and operational funds through Ripple Payments, using both XRP and Ripple’s dollar-pegged RLUSD stablecoin. This setup reportedly allows seed funding to reach microfinance institutions within minutes, rather than several days, by bypassing traditional banking corridors.
The organization maintains that the integration of Ripple infrastructure has helped shorten transfer times and reduce costs, allowing partner lenders to more quickly deliver small loans for essential water and sanitation systems.
Mini dictionary: RLUSD — A stablecoin issued by Ripple, pegged to the US dollar and designed for use within Ripple’s payments infrastructure to facilitate faster and lower-cost global transactions.
| Feature | Before Ripple Payments | With Ripple & RLUSD |
|---|---|---|
| Seed fund transfer time | Several days | Minutes |
| Currency | Fiat only | XRP, RLUSD |
| Cost | Higher | Lower |
Global Development and Expanded Use Cases
A significant portion of the global population, estimated at over two billion people, still lacks access to safe water. Water.org’s campaign aims to address this need, with hopes that efficient payment technologies can increase the volume and speed of capital reaching local microfinance partners.
Swell 2026’s expanded agenda also covers digital asset tokenization, broader institutional adoption, and technical developments within the XRP ecosystem. Organizers expect high-profile speakers and live operational use cases to draw attention to both Ripple and Water.org’s efforts.
Swell 2026 brings together institutional players, developers, and leading nonprofits to explore the potential of digital assets for financial inclusion and cross-border impact.
