Ripple’s annual conference, Swell 2026, is set to feature a notable addition to its speaker lineup: Raghuram Rajan, the former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Rajan will participate in the invitation-only Institutional Summit scheduled for October 27 in New York City, as announced by Ripple in a press release on September 4.
The Institutional Summit is designed for leaders from banks, investment firms, payment providers, and other financial institutions. This year, Ripple is also integrating its developer-focused XRPL Apex conference with Swell, creating a combined program that bridges institutional finance and blockchain development. The events will take place at The Shed in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards, running through October 29.
While Ripple has confirmed Rajan’s participation, the company has not yet disclosed the specific topic, session time, or format of his appearance. The conference website lists him as a speaker, but it remains unclear whether he will deliver a keynote or join a panel discussion.
Rajan’s background is distinguished: he served as RBI Governor from September 2013 to September 2016, and prior to that, he was the Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Currently, he holds the Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professorship in Finance at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and co-chairs the Federal Reserve’s task force on balance sheet policy.
This is not Rajan’s first association with Ripple. In 2024, he became a member of Ripple’s advisory board for its RLUSD ecosystem, which provides strategic and regulatory guidance. He has also spoken about the future of stablecoins, which could soon be integrated into private payment systems.
The full schedule for Swell 2026 is yet to be released, with Ripple expected to announce more details about Rajan’s session and other speakers. For now, his presence underscores the conference’s focus on bringing together central banking expertise and digital asset innovation.