Ripple is returning to SwissHacks 2026 as an Innovation Rockstar Partner, bringing three XRP Ledger builder challenge tracks targeting institutional payments, credit, and AI-driven finance. The hackathon runs June 19 to 21 in Zurich, Switzerland.
Tenity, the organizer behind the event, confirmed the partnership on X. The announcement places Ripple among the top-tier challenge sponsors at Switzerland’s only government-backed fintech hackathon, now entering its third edition.
Ripple Sets Three Build Tracks
RippleXDev on X posted: “The future of institutional finance is being built on XRP. We’re looking for builders tackling real pain points in payments, credit, and AI-powered finance using XRPL’s newest on-chain primitives.”
The three challenge tracks focus squarely on on-chain activity. Builders are expected to use XRPL primitives that went live or entered validator voting in early 2026, including the native lending protocol defined under amendments XLS-65 and XLS-66, permissioned domains, and multi-purpose token standards. Those features were introduced to meet requirements from institutions that needed gated settlement environments and compliance-friendly access before committing to the ledger.
Ripple will also contribute to the jury and engage with teams on site, according to Tenity. That involvement mirrors its role in SwissHacks 2025, where Marco Neri of Ripple served as a jury member alongside representatives from Raiffeisen and Julius Baer, and 220 hackers from 70 nationalities submitted 54 projects across 48 hours.
Switzerland Backing Adds Institutional Signal
SwissHacks is initiated by the State Secretariat for International Finance, known as SIF, the same Swiss federal body that shapes international monetary and financial policy. Tenity runs the operational side. Nicolas Brügger, Head of the Innovation Desk at SIF, described SwissHacks as “a valuable catalyst for Switzerland’s financial innovation ecosystem” in a statement published by Tenity.
The 2026 edition serves as the opening event of the inaugural Swiss Fintech Week in Zurich. Winning teams present at Kongresshaus Zurich during the Fintech Makers Night. That stage gives projects direct access to Swiss financial institutions, investors, and regulators gathered for the week-long program.
Brigitta Gyoerfi, Hub Director at Tenity, said the hackathon is about “moving from strategy to practical application, and from practical application to scalable solutions for the financial sector.” The framing fits what Ripple’s builder challenge is asking for: working prototypes, not concept pitches.
Ripple’s Repeat Presence Signals Deeper Commitment
Ripple’s standing at SwissHacks is not new. The company was listed as an Innovation Rockstar at both the 2024 and 2025 editions, making 2026 a third consecutive year of formal partnership. Since 2017, Ripple has deployed more than $550 million into XRP Ledger ecosystem programs globally, including non-equity grants, hackathons, and accelerators.
tenity_global on X wrote: “Ripple has spent over a decade building the infrastructure for how money moves globally: from cross-border payments to digital asset settlement. At SwissHacks 2026, Ripple will present a builder challenge, engage with teams on-site, and contribute to the jury.”
For developers building on XRPL, the three tracks are a direct signal of which use cases Ripple is willing to put institutional weight behind at a government-level event. Payments and cross-border settlement remain the ledger’s core pitch. The addition of credit and AI-powered finance tracks reflects the ledger’s 2026 roadmap, which introduced Single Asset Vaults and a lending protocol aimed at on-chain credit markets.
Applications for SwissHacks 2026 are open at swisshacks.com. The event is free to attend for accepted participants, with travel reimbursement available for applicants from outside Switzerland.
