Ripple has announced that acclaimed actor and philanthropist Matt Damon will be a keynote speaker at its upcoming Swell conference, taking place October 27–29 in New York City. Damon, co-founder of the non-profit Water.org, will discuss how the organization leverages Ripple Payments and the newly launched dollar-pegged stablecoin RLUSD to accelerate cross-border money movement and fund clean water initiatives for over 200 million people in vulnerable regions of Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse described the moment as pivotal for the crypto industry, stating, "I've been in crypto long enough to know when a moment is real. This is one of them. 10 years of Swell converging with real scale, institutional adoption, and Swell + Apex together for the first time this fall." Ripple President Monica Long emphasized that the 2026 edition will be the company's largest event ever, featuring multiple tracks on institutional, ecosystem, and innovation topics. CTO David Schwartz added that he is eager to see new ways people are using XRP and building on the XRP Ledger across payments, tokenization, DeFi, AI, and interoperability.
The speaker lineup also includes Tom Farley, Chairman and CEO of crypto exchange Bullish and former President of the NYSE, underscoring the blend of Hollywood and Wall Street attention. The conference is expected to highlight the practical impact of blockchain technology on global infrastructure and drive further adoption of Ripple’s payment solutions.
