270,000 seconds. That is how long the average SWIFT transfer takes to settle, according to Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, and it is precisely that window that he argues makes traditional cross-border payments riskier than sending value in XRP, despite the token's well-known price swings.
The argument resurfaced after crypto researcher SMQKE shared a Garlinghouse document on X, timed alongside SWIFT's own explanation of why it is upgrading its network rather than scrapping it. SWIFT currently connects more than 11,500 financial institutions and is leaning into shared-ledger technology bolted onto its existing rails, not a ground-up rebuild.
Garlinghouse's logic is straightforward. During those three days a SWIFT payment sits in transit, institutions pile up foreign exchange exposure, liquidity costs, counterparty risk and hedging bills. XRP transactions on the XRP Ledger close in three to five seconds. His point: "If you compare 270,000 seconds in a low-volatility asset to three or four seconds in a highly volatile asset like XRP, it turns out you're taking less volatility risk with an XRP transaction than you are fiat." Because XRP is converted into the destination currency almost immediately, the need for expensive hedging largely disappears. "You're in and out of it in a few seconds," he said.
Separately, Ripple documentation has shown its payment infrastructure can interoperate with SWIFT messaging, which complicates the usual framing of blockchain versus banking rails. The two systems may end up working alongside each other rather than racing to replace one another.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Crypto assets carry significant risk; always do your own research before making investment decisions.
