Ripple will bring its annual Swell conference to New York this October for the first time, combining it with the XRPL Apex summit. The event runs October 27–29 at The Shed in Hudson Yards and expects more than 1,500 attendees, 75 speakers, and 50 sessions. But behind the splashy agenda, a vocal chunk of the XRP community is boiling over — accusing Ripple of sidelining XRP in favor of its new stablecoin, RLUSD.
What's on the agenda
The combined Swell–Apex conference will cover payments, tokenization, decentralized finance, AI applications, interoperability, and stablecoins. RLUSD gets a dedicated spot in the institutional track. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse pointed to the XRP Ledger surpassing 4 billion completed transactions as evidence the network has matured. The event is the company's biggest showcase of the year, meant to draw developers, institutions, and regulators under one roof.
Why some XRP holders are furious
On social media, retail XRP holders aren't celebrating. They're angry. Many accuse Ripple of prioritizing RLUSD — a stablecoin that competes with the likes of USDC and USDT — over XRP itself. Some called for token burns to reduce supply and push the price higher, a demand Ripple has consistently rejected. Hostile posts targeted Garlinghouse and other Ripple leaders directly, with some calling the project a 'ponzi scheme' and threatening lawsuits.
The resentment isn't new, but it's gotten louder. XRP's price has lagged behind many other major cryptocurrencies during recent market rallies, and holders blame Ripple's treasury sales and what they see as a lack of marketing push for XRP. The stablecoin push feels like salt in the wound.
The price pressure from anger
Intense negative sentiment from a core user base can have real market consequences. When a large group of holders is openly hostile, it tends to suppress short-term buying pressure and amplify sell-side momentum. That dynamic could keep a lid on XRP's price even if broader crypto markets rise. Ripple's leadership has not publicly addressed the backlash, and the company has no plans to revisit the token-burn discussion.
The conference will go ahead as scheduled. Registration is open. But the rift between Ripple and a significant slice of its retail base remains raw — and unresolved heading into October.
