At the APEX 2025 conference in Singapore, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse shared an ambitious outlook for XRP’s role in cross-border payments. He suggested that XRP could handle up to 14% of the global volume currently routed through SWIFT, the dominant interbank messaging system, within the next five years.
🔍 A Shift From Messaging to Liquidity
Garlinghouse emphasized that SWIFT’s role in global finance is divided into two key parts: messaging and liquidity. While SWIFT enables banks to communicate transfer instructions across borders, the actual movement of funds still depends on pre-funded accounts and multiple intermediaries—often making transactions slow and expensive.
“There are two parts to SWIFT today: messaging and liquidity,” Garlinghouse said.
“Liquidity is owned by the banks. I think less about the messaging and more about liquidity. If you’re driving all the liquidity, it is good for XRP … so I’ll say five years, 14%.”
🔁 Ripple’s Advantage: Moving Money, Not Just Messages
Ripple aims to modernize the financial infrastructure by focusing on capital movement, not just communication. Unlike SWIFT, which only sends payment instructions, Ripple’s blockchain-based system enables the actual transfer of value using XRP as a bridge asset.
This structure allows for:
- Instant currency conversion
- Lower capital requirements
- Reduced need for pre-funded nostro/vostro accounts
- Faster settlement times
XRP’s utility lies in its ability to function as an intermediary currency, converting value between fiat pairs instantly and on-chain.
🌍 Competing at the Liquidity Layer
Ripple’s broader strategy positions XRP at the liquidity layer of global payments. As institutions increasingly seek real-time settlement and on-demand liquidity, Ripple believes that XRP’s speed, scalability, and interoperability will offer a compelling alternative to legacy systems.
While SWIFT remains the standard for messaging, Ripple is targeting the infrastructure behind liquidity management—arguably the most capital-intensive layer of the cross-border flow.
Conclusion:
Brad Garlinghouse’s 14% projection highlights Ripple’s confidence in XRP’s expanding utility across institutional finance. As blockchain continues to reshape global payments, Ripple’s focus on liquidity and seamless capital movement could unlock new market share from traditional systems like SWIFT.
