Ripple has finally ended its legal conflict with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), bringing regulatory clarity to its underlying digital asset, XRP, which is currently trading at $2.95.
This development raises a new question: can Ripple now focus on becoming a competitive alternative to SWIFT?
Since 1973, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) has been the backbone of international money transfer systems. However, many critics consider it outdated.
They are different from blockchain technology, which offers faster transaction speeds, lower costs, and clearer transaction transparency.
SWIFT is not a direct money transfer system. It provides a standardized code and a secure messaging platform that connects banks around the world.
Despite processing over 53 million messages per day across 220 countries and over 11,500 financial institutions, the system has been criticized for taking days to complete transactions, high fees, the complexity of its bank partners, and a transaction failure rate of 1 in 10, with 1 in 20 settling late.
SWIFT is currently undergoing major upgrades, including the adoption of ISO 20022 by November 2025.
Ripple, meanwhile, offers more modern blockchain technology with near-real-time settlement speeds.
In 2018, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said his company was taking on SWIFT through a partnership with banks and global payment service providers.
Now, with the legal case with the SEC settled, the big question is whether Ripple can use this momentum to challenge SWIFT’s dominance, especially as the price of XRP has been weak for the past year.
