Ripple Swell’s main event had not even started yet. Even so, Ripple used the opening day of its tenth annual conference to sign Robinhood, deepen its ties with BNY, launch a corporate treasury product and celebrate a federal bank charter. The US Treasury Secretary was also on stage.
The bigger story is how Washington now sees Ripple’s products. Scott Bessent did not describe stablecoins as a crypto experiment. He described them as a tool for extending the dollar’s global reach.
Bessent: The Dollar Now Needs A “Technological Umbrella”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent opened the conference. He argued that reserve currencies were once backed by military protection, and that their strength now rests on what he called a “technological umbrella.” In that shift, he said, leadership in digital assets will help secure the dollar’s global dominance.
“We are going to win in the digital asset stack,” Bessent said. He added that this will “continue to fortify the dollar.”
His argument runs as follows:
- Over 90% of stablecoins are pegged to the US dollar.
- Most are backed by US Treasuries.
- As emerging markets adopt stablecoins, they raise demand for both dollars and Treasuries.
- That makes stablecoins “an important source of funding for the Treasury.”
Bessent called Congress’s failure to pass the CLARITY Act a disappointment. He said the Treasury will use its convening power to bring the SEC and CFTC together to close the gaps through regulation. He also said it will push for industry standards to stop crypto firms from being “debanked.”
Robinhood Plugs Into Ripple’s Rails
CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced that Ripple’s infrastructure is coming to Robinhood, covering both customer-facing services and back-end operations. The deal includes:
- RLUSD settlement on the XRP Ledger
- Prime brokerage services
- Treasury operations
It is one of the largest US retail trading platforms to plug into Ripple’s network.
BNY Goes Deeper
Ripple is also expanding its relationship with BNY, which already holds most of RLUSD’s reserves. The partnership now covers custody and tokenized trade finance, using RLUSD, XRP and the XRP Ledger. That brings XRP directly into a project with one of the world’s largest custodian banks.
Corporate Cash That Never Sleeps
Ripple Treasury introduced 24/7 Returns, a product that lets companies earn yield on idle cash outside banking hours by using stablecoins. Garlinghouse described it as another step toward Ripple’s treasury management plans.
Charter That Ties It Together
The week also included final approval from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for Ripple National Trust Bank. The bank will manage RLUSD’s reserves and offer federally supervised custody.
Twist: Ripple Is Selling Dollar Infrastructure
Taken together, the day-zero announcements point to a shift in how Ripple presents itself. Its core business is no longer only fast cross-border payments. It is offering a regulated, dollar-backed stack:
- A stablecoin backed by Treasuries
- A federal trust bank to manage the reserves
- A settlement layer on the XRP Ledger
- Distribution through Robinhood and BNY
This is the system Bessent described from the stage. For XRP, the question is how much of that dollar activity flows through the XRP Ledger, and how much value the token captures along the way.
And Those Rocket Socks?
Fans noticed that Garlinghouse wasn’t wearing the rocket socks he made famous at Swell 2025. When asked on X whether they would come back, he answered: “Those are main stage only!” The main event starts today.
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