XRP News Today: SWIFT Sees 15% Drop in Transactions as XRP Ledger Gains Traction

SWIFT, the longstanding backbone of international finance, is experiencing a notable decline in transaction volume, with a reported 15% drop. This shift is concurrent with a surge in activity on the XRP Ledger (XRPL), indicating a growing preference for faster, cheaper, and blockchain-based settlement solutions. SWIFT, which connects over 11,000 financial institutions across more than 200 countries, has traditionally been the go-to system for secure messaging between banks. However, its role as a mere transmitter of payment instructions, rather than a settlement system, has become a limitation. The actual fund transfers still rely on a network of correspondent banks, resulting in settlement times that span one to five days and high fees, despite the introduction of its GPI (Global Payments Innovation) upgrade.

The XRP Ledger, on the other hand, offers a more efficient payment experience. Transactions on the XRPL settle in just 3–5 seconds, with fees often less than a penny, and without the need for intermediary banks. The native token, XRP, provides on-chain liquidity, making the XRPL an attractive option for real-world payment networks. At the 2025 Apex XRPL Summit in Singapore, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse predicted that the XRP Ledger could capture 14% of SWIFT’s total transaction volume over the next five years. This would represent a significant shift of more than $21 trillion into the XRPL ecosystem, given that SWIFT processes over $150 trillion annually.

If XRP were to handle even a fraction of this volume, the implications for its price would be immense. Based on average token velocity and liquidity needs, experts suggest that XRP’s price could surge into the double digits, with estimates ranging from $11 to $25 per token. This scenario assumes that XRP is reused around 30 times per year for payments, a conservative figure in high-frequency environments. Such a transformation would not only impact the XRP market but also challenge the dominance of traditional settlement mechanisms like SWIFT.

The appeal of the XRPL lies in its real-time settlement, cost efficiency, transparency, and interoperability. It eliminates the need for pre-funded accounts, reduces operational overhead, and enables financial institutions to track payments end-to-end in a single, unified ledger. RippleNet, Ripple’s network that integrates XRPL with financial institutions, is expanding rapidly and already facilitates billions in institutional transfers. The structural shift from traditional banking infrastructure to blockchain-based solutions is underway, with XRP positioning itself at the center of this new financial era. If the current pace of adoption continues, the XRPL could soon become the new backbone of cross-border finance, surpassing SWIFT in transaction volume and efficiency.