Ripple has named Academy Award winner and Water.org co-founder Matt Damon as a keynote speaker for Swell 2026, scheduled for Oct. 27-29 at The Shed in New York City.
Finance and Nonprofit Leaders Join the Lineup
The expanded lineup places executives from investment management, crypto trading, financial technology and nonprofit finance within the same program. New speakers include Aviva Senior Investment Director Alastair Sewell, Susquehanna Crypto CEO Chase Lax, Water.org CEO and co-founder Gary White, and PEAK6 co-founder Jenny Just. Other listed speakers include Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, President Monica Long and CTO Emeritus David Schwartz.
External participants include Robinhood crypto executive Johann Kerbrat, BNY Global Head of Markets Laude Majiyagbe and Intercontinental Exchange Vice President Michael Blaugrund. Former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan is also listed. The lineup extends beyond crypto-native companies to include banks, asset managers, exchange operators, academics and development organizations.
Matt Damon's Connection to Water.org
Damon co-founded Water.org with Gary White. The nonprofit works with local financial institutions to provide affordable financing for household water and sanitation systems. Ripple joined Water.org's Get Blue campaign in June as its exclusive digital asset and payments partner, with RLUSD being used to move funding to microfinance partners serving communities across emerging markets.
That existing relationship gives Damon's participation a direct connection to Ripple's humanitarian payments work. However, neither Ripple nor Water.org has confirmed that his keynote will focus on RLUSD, charitable payments or the Get Blue initiative.
Swell and XRPL Apex Combine Into One Event
Ripple will combine Swell and XRPL Apex into one event for the first time in 2026. Swell has traditionally focused on institutional finance, payments and policy, while Apex has served developers and researchers working on the XRP Ledger. The combined conference is planned around more than 50 sessions across three stages.
Ripple expects over 75 speakers and more than 1,500 attendees. Program topics include payments, stablecoins, tokenization, crypto markets, exchange-traded funds, decentralized finance, artificial intelligence, privacy, quantum computing and XRP utility.
Registration and Logistics
Swell 2026 will take place at The Shed, a cultural center in Manhattan's Hudson Yards. Standard registration is listed at $1,200 through Oct. 5. The final registration period runs from Oct. 6 through Oct. 20, with tickets priced at $1,500. The organizers are also planning an institutional summit and a hackathon within the wider conference program.
Damon's precise keynote subject and the sessions assigned to the four newly announced speakers have not yet been disclosed. More speakers are expected to be announced, but the event website does not provide a deadline for completing the lineup.
