- XRP price surged due to speculation of a SWIFT partnership, but no official confirmation or collaboration has been announced.
- Ripple’s strategic acquisitions and ISO 20022 alignment fuel market optimism, though not directly tied to SWIFT integration.
- Misinterpretations and comments from third-party entities continue to drive hype despite the absence of verified Ripple-SWIFT connections
Rumors of integration between XRP Ledger and SWIFT, the global system to manage cross-border transactions, have emerged following recent events in the Cryptocurrency market. This week, the value of XRP surged due to rumors regarding the digital currency’s integration with the SWIFT payment system.
Market analyst and crypto commentator John Squire stated that an announcement by SWIFT can be anticipated in the near future. This ignited controversy because his predictions came at a time when Ripple was to end its legal battles with the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission. Despite such a verdict, discourse within the digital asset community has ignited new hope for the coin and a subsequent surge in trading of the XRP coin.
The XRP Ledger that operates under the management of the Ripple company, is being introduced as an Oriented blockchain system for payment that is intended to help consumers increase efficiency and also minimize costs of transactions across the international market. The SWIFT network that provides information exchange between over 11,000 financial institutions worldwide and handles over $1.8 trillion per day. Thus, even the moderate participation by XRP in the SWIFT environment is quite capable of substantially shaping the functionality of the token.
Ripple’s Strategic Moves Fuel Speculation
Even in the last months, Ripple has made several steps which suggest a more aggressive move towards a consolidated financial sector. In March, the company acquired Hidden Road, an international prime brokerage company for $1.25 billion. This move followed shortly after its own stablecoin RLUSD that is designed to link fiat and crypto payment systems.
These efforts indicate that ripple is gradually establishing itself in institutional finance. Such steps are seen as the part of the long-term strategy to incorporate it into the existing finance systems. However, none of the above actions can be directly associated with an organization’s affiliation with SWIFT.
Other topics have included Ripple’s compliance with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 20022, which is a universally recognized format for messaging in the financial services industry. Most blockchain networks want to integrate with ISO 20022 to match the requirements set by financial organizations. However, there is no public information from SWIFT hinting at the likelihood of integrating XRP based on this standard alone.
Misinterpretations and Indirect Associations Add to Hype
Several reasons can be attributed to such rumours and this is despite no formal announcement from either SWIFT or Ripple. Ripple was engaged in working on interoperability pilots for blockchain solutions in the year, 2023. However, these programs were not offered by SWIFT but by other financial consortiums.
Moreover, EastNets, through a licensed SWIFT software provider, mentioned potential interest in Ripple’s technology. This was rather misconceived as meaning that SWIFT was directly involved in offering services to BNP. This has been further fueled by statements made by some ex-SWIFT employees who have in the past said that XRP complies with banking systems.
This has helped to sustain the speculation namely through such indirect relations. However, an evaluation of the documents available in the public domain and other official statements show that there is no partnership between SWIFT and Ripple.
Legal Context and Industry Trends Support the Narrative
This is due to the legal battle that Ripple is experiencing against the SEC. As the case proceeds towards its end, the legal perspective of Ripple seems to be improving. This has been complemented by an increase in price of XRP even as there is no proven correlation between it and SWIFT.
However, other phenomena characteristic for the financial industry are also present. Modern institutions are looking into the use cases of blockchain technology and multiple papers from asset management firms have pointed to the usefulness of XRP. However, all those discussions are mere predictions and have not been driven by any affiliation with SWIFT.
