Key Takeaways :
- SWIFT is building a blockchain-based shared ledger in collaboration with Consensys and over 30 financial institutions, with the first use case being 24/7 real-time cross-border payments.
- The envisioned ledger will support regulated tokenised assets and enforce rules via smart contracts, while maintaining interoperability with legacy systems.
- SWIFT has already run multiple interoperability pilots with major banks and platforms, including Chainlink, to connect tokenised assets across private and public blockchains.
- The rise of stablecoins and tokenised assets is putting pressure on traditional financial rails; SWIFT’s move signals the institution’s attempt to defend relevance in the new era.
- For builders, innovators, and crypto investors, SWIFT’s initiative creates both opportunities and challenges in tokenisation, interoperability, compliance, and infrastructure competition.
Below is an expanded narrative and analysis, followed by a direct Japanese translation.
1. SWIFT Enters the Blockchain Arena: Motivation & Vision
SWIFT—the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication—has long been the backbone of cross-border bank messaging, used by over 11,500 institutions in more than 200 countries. On September 29, 2025, SWIFT announced a bold initiative: it will build and integrate a blockchain-based shared ledger into its infrastructure, in partnership with Consensys, with more than 30 global banks committed to the project.
The first targeted application is 24/7 real-time cross-border payments—a use case that legacy systems often struggle to deliver reliably. SWIFT’s ambition is to extend beyond mere messaging to become a “digital rails” provider for regulated tokenised value—meaning the movement of tokenised assets (e.g. tokenised fiat, securities) across participating institutions.
In its press release, SWIFT emphasizes that the ledger will “record, sequence and validate transactions and enforce rules through smart contracts,” while being interoperable with both existing infrastructure and emerging blockchain networks. Thierry Chilosi, SWIFT’s Chief Business Officer, also notes that this move aligns with G20 goals of improving cross-border payments—including speed, predictability, and transparency.
Why now? Beyond the technical promise, SWIFT is facing existential pressure. The growing adoption of stablecoins and tokenised assets allows users to bypass legacy banking rails, reducing the role of intermediaries. If SWIFT does nothing, it risks becoming an antiquated messaging layer rather than a payments infrastructure of consequence.
2. Interoperability First: Experiments & Pilots
Even before this announcement, SWIFT has already been actively exploring the problem of blockchain interoperability—how to connect diverse blockchains, tokenised platforms, and traditional financial systems.
2.1 Early Experiments with Chainlink & Public Blockchains
In collaboration with Chainlink and several major banks (BNP Paribas, Citi, BNY Mellon, Clearstream, Euroclear, others), SWIFT has conducted trials to instruct tokenised transfers across different blockchain networks. The aim is to let institutions use their existing SWIFT connections to interact with tokenisation platforms in a secure, compliant, and efficient manner. DTCC These pilots have included testing interactions with both private and public blockchains, bridging the divide between legacy systems and Web3 environments.
One notable result: a demonstrable proof of concept that financial institutions can build on their existing back-end operations while transacting across public and private blockchains, leveraging SWIFT’s messaging network as a connective fabric.
2.2 Lessons & Challenges
These experiments also surfaced key challenges:
- Divergence & Price Frictions: Interoperability is not just a technical connectivity issue, but also a financial one. When the same tokenized claim exists across multiple chains, price divergence can arise due to frictions. A study finds low correlation (average ~0.381) between bridged representations of stablecoins across platforms.
- Governance & Compliance: Banks must satisfy regulatory constraints—AML, KYC, reserve backing, and auditability—while enabling automated settlement. The smart contract layer must enforce rules without undermining compliance.
- Scalability & Latency: Real-time cross-border payments demand low latency, high throughput, and consistent performance. The shared ledger must scale globally and reliably.
- Legacy Integration: Many banks have entrenched payment systems and middle/back office processes. Any new blockchain ledger must interface seamlessly rather than require full rewrites.
SWIFT’s approach—building a conceptual prototype first, iterating with partner banks, and gradually expanding use cases—is likely a prudent way to surface and solve these challenges.
3. Stablecoins, Tokenisation & the Pressure on Traditional Rails
To understand SWIFT’s move, one must see the competitive dynamics at play.
3.1 The Rise of Stablecoins
The stablecoin market has ballooned, exceeding $300 billion, mostly driven by US-centric issuers like USDC and USDT. Because they enable near-instant, low-friction cross-border transfers without classical interbank intermediaries, stablecoins directly threaten the relevance of legacy rails like SWIFT.
In the U.S., recent legislation has attempted to bring regulation to stablecoins, pushing incumbents like JPMorgan and Citi to consider issuing their own regulated tokens to stay competitive.
3.2 Tokenisation of Traditional Assets
Beyond payments, financial institutions are increasingly tokenizing assets—money market funds, bonds, real estate shares—so that ownership can be traded or settled on-chain with greater efficiency. For example, Goldman Sachs and BNY Mellon launched tokenized versions of money market fund shares, a step toward bridging traditional finance with blockchain rails.
This tokenisation trend adds more demand for infrastructure that can safely and compliantly move tokenised securities and cash-like instruments across institutional participants.
3.3 Coexistence, Not Replacement
Crucially, most analysts don’t expect SWIFT or legacy payment systems to disappear overnight. Instead, blockchain-based rails will coexist and “augment” existing infrastructure. The challenge is how to connect these old and new systems—and that is precisely where interoperability becomes central.
4. What This Means for Builders, Investors & Crypto Ecosystem Players
SWIFT’s decision changes many dynamics in the blockchain-finance space. For those seeking new crypto projects, revenue sources, or practical blockchain adoption paths, here are potential implications and opportunities:
4.1 A New Institutional Corridor
Once operational, SWIFT’s shared ledger could act as a backbone for regulated tokenised flows among banks. Projects building tokenisation platforms, compliance layers, oracle networks, or cross-chain bridges can seek to plug into this corridor.
4.2 Competition for Middleware & Oracles
SWIFT has already leaned on Chainlink in pilots to bridge tokenized assets across networks. That signals opportunity—and rivalry—for oracle providers, interoperability middleware, and infrastructure protocols.
4.3 Standards & Messaging Alignment
Because SWIFT is deeply entwined with financial messaging standards (like ISO 20022), tokenised assets that are ISO-compliant or messaging-friendly (e.g., XRP, XLM, XDC, ALGO) may see increased institutional interest. Builders aiming at institutional adoption should emphasize compatibility with financial messaging and compliance workflows.
4.4 Risk & Regulatory Exposure
Any project that connects to SWIFT’s ledger will need to match very high levels of regulatory compliance. The complexity of being on-chain while satisfying cross-jurisdictional AML/CTF, legal reserve requirements, audit trails, and custody rules is nontrivial.
4.5 Strategic Timing & First-Mover Advantage
If you can engage early—via pilot programs, technical proposals, or API integrations—you might secure a privileged position within this emerging institutional rails network.
5. Recent Related Developments (Mid to Late 2025)
To round out the picture, here are additional recent events and industry signals that are relevant:
- Fnality’s $136M Raise: A blockchain payments company backed by institutional banks (Bank of America, Citi, others) is expanding multi-currency payments infrastructure.
- Goldman & BNY Tokenized Funds: As mentioned, the tokenization of money market funds is underway, showing real asset-backed token issuance at scale.
- Banks adopting Solana: Several major banks have struck deals to integrate with Solana blockchain via R3, highlighting that public chain adoption in finance is accelerating.
These developments indicate growing institutional seriousness around blockchain rails, tokenisation, and the bridging of legacy and new systems.
6. Summary & Conclusion
SWIFT’s announcement to build a blockchain-based shared ledger marks a watershed moment in the convergence of traditional finance and Web3. By aiming to support 24/7 real-time cross-border payments and regulated tokenised assets, SWIFT is positioning itself not just as a messaging network, but as a core infrastructure piece for institutional tokenisation flows.
However, success is far from guaranteed. The challenges of interoperability, compliance, latency, governance, and legacy integration loom large. The earlier pilot experiments with Chainlink and multiple banks provide useful momentum—but transitioning to global production scale is a different game.
For readers like you who are hunting new crypto opportunities, this environment opens compelling avenues: connecting to SWIFT’s rails, building compliant tokenisation platforms, offering oracle or bridge infrastructure, and aligning with financial messaging standards.
In short: SWIFT is trying to reinvent its role in the digital asset era. If you lean into this new wave wisely, you could find value at the intersection of crypto infrastructure, finance, and regulation.
