SWIFT announces its blockchain ledger is ready, 17 banks to pilot tokenized cross-border payments

According to an official announcement from SWIFT today, the blockchain-based shared ledger is officially ready, with 17 banks from six continents taking the lead in launching real-time operational pilots, marking a key step in the large-scale application of digital value within the regulated financial system.

The ledger provides participating banks with a secure coding layer and supports them in issuing tokenized deposits on their own ledgers, enabling banks to achieve round-the-clock fund payments and cross-border transactions through existing settlement systems.

Notably, while significantly improving customer experience and global liquidity efficiency, this solution does not compromise the compliance, credit, risk, and control standards embedded in the existing payment processing system.

The initial pilot banks for the ledger include: ANZ, BNP Paribas, BNY Mellon, Citibank, DBS, HSBC, MUFG, Standard Chartered, UBS, and Wells Fargo, among 17 globally renowned financial institutions.

SWIFT Chief Business Officer Thierry Chilosi said that with the new ledger capability, SWIFT extends the trust and stability of traditional finance to the frontier of digital currencies, allowing tokenized value to flow across borders at the speed and flexibility required by modern commerce.

Currently, up to 75% of transactions on the SWIFT network reach the receiving bank within 10 minutes, and most transfers take just a few seconds; SWIFT also plans to expand and upgrade the ledger's functionality, laying the foundation for future innovations in programmable money and agent commerce.

#SWIFT #Blockchain shared ledger