Ripple's David Schwartz to Discuss XRP Ledger Future at Swell 2026

Ripple’s former Chief Technology Officer, David Schwartz, will return to Swell 2026 to discuss the XRP Ledger’s development roadmap. The appearance marks Schwartz’s first major conference engagement since assuming the CTO Emeritus role and joining Ripple’s board.

The XRP Ledger co-creator will participate in a fireside chat on October 28 during Ripple’s anniversary conference in New York. The session will address the network’s technical direction, including payment infrastructure, privacy features, and artificial intelligence applications.

Ripple has scheduled the conference for October 27 and 28 at The Shed, bringing together approximately 1,500 participants. Schwartz will join Ayo Akinyele, RippleX’s head of engineering, for a session titled “Building What’s Next for XRPL.”

Akinyele specializes in applied cryptography, privacy-preserving transfers, and artificial intelligence infrastructure, making these technologies central to the scheduled discussion. Their conversation will examine XRPL’s technical development and potential applications across institutional financial services.

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Ripple has expanded the anniversary conference by combining Swell with Apex, its developer summit, and UBRI Connect, its academic initiative. The combined event will bring blockchain engineers, financial executives, and researchers together to examine digital asset infrastructure and financial applications.

Confirmed speakers include Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, former NYSE President Tom Farley, and BNY executive Laide Majiyagbe. Hollywood actor Matt Damon will also participate through Water.org, which plans to explore RLUSD applications for microfinance initiatives.

The initiative targets financial services across Asia and Africa, where stablecoin payments could support the organization’s development programs. Meanwhile, Schwartz’s appearance follows a departure from Ripple’s operational leadership, marking an important transition within the company’s technical management.

The conference follows XRP’s reported 46% third-quarter gain, with the cryptocurrency trading around $1.53 and approaching $97 billion in capitalization. Schwartz’s scheduled discussion will cover XRPL’s payment capabilities alongside privacy development and artificial intelligence integration.

The October 28 session will begin at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time, bringing Schwartz and Akinyele together onstage. The presentation will outline technical priorities shaping the XRP Ledger’s development under Ripple’s evolving leadership structure.

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