Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse believes XRP could soon take a meaningful slice of the global payments sector.
In a recent video shared on X, Garlinghouse projected that XRP might capture as much as 14% of the volume currently processed through Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) within the next five years.
He argued that the liquidity component of the SWIFT network presents an opportunity for digital assets like XRP.
Currently, banks maintain control over most liquidity within SWIFT. Garlinghouse suggested that XRP, with its on-demand liquidity capabilities, could serve as a more efficient alternative for cross-border transfers.
According to him:
“SWIFT today has two components: messaging and liquidity. Liquidity is owned by banks. I think less about the messaging and more about liquidity. If you’re driving all the liquidity, it’s good for XRP. So, in five years, I’d say 14%.”
Despite Garlinghouse’s projection, XRP is down by around 4% in the last 24 hours to $2.24 as of press time. The token has declined by over 40% from its January all-time high of $3.8, according to CryptoSlate’s data.
Can XRP displace SWIFT?
For decades, SWIFT has served as the backbone of global interbank messaging, with more than 11,000 institutions relying on it to exchange financial transaction data.
In 2022 alone, SWIFT processed an average of 44.8 million messages daily, a figure that industry analysts believe surpassed 50 million in 2024.
Yet, industry players believe that the growing interest in blockchain-based solutions from firms like Ripple is beginning to challenge this legacy infrastructure.
Over the years, Ripple has built a suite of financial tools, including the XRP token, XRP Ledger, and the Ripple USD stablecoin. These tools aim to streamline cross-border payments with lower fees and near-instant settlement times.
Ripple’s ambitions, however, have not been without setbacks. The company spent years fighting legal action from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which accused it of selling XRP as an unregistered security. Notably, this legal cloud significantly slowed XRP’s adoption by financial institutions.
However, the SEC recently dropped its case against Ripple, removing a significant obstacle to XRP’s adoption. Market observers believe this legal clarity could accelerate XRP’s growth and position it as a credible alternative to SWIFT.
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