The world’s largest financial messaging network, Swift, said its blockchain-based ledger is ready for first apply after nine months of development.
Seventeen major banks, including HSBC, Citi, BNP Paribas, UBS, ANZ, DBS and Standard Chartered, are preparing to pilot cross-border payments using tokenized bank deposits on the recent Swift registry announced on Thursday.
The ledger will enable participating banks to process cross-border payments 24/7, including overnight and weekend transactions, while maintaining existing compliance, credit, risk and control standards built into ongoing payment processing.
The launch marks the next step in banks’ efforts to leverage tokenized deposits across regulated financial infrastructure, while extending payment availability beyond established bank opening hours.
Swift said it plans to expand the functionality and availability of the ledger after an initial controlled launch phase.
Swift’s interbank communications network connects over 11,500 banks and financial institutions in over 200 countries and territories. Swift claims that 75% of payments on its existing network already reach beneficiary banks within 10 minutes, often within seconds.
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‘Milestone’ for digital assets, says Swift
The addition to Swift’s “resilient global platform represents a key milestone for regulated digital assets” that could lay the foundation for future innovation in areas including programmable money and agent trading, said Thierry Chilosi, Swift’s chief business officer.
“It allows tokenized value to move across borders with the speed and flexibility that modern commerce expects, while maintaining the same high levels of resilience, security and compliance that global finance demands,” he added.
The development comes a month after a consortium of major banks including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Barclays, BNY and Wells Fargo announced plans to launch a tokenized deposit network in the first half of 2027. The Clearing House will operate the network and connect established payment rails with digital asset infrastructure for 24/7 settlement.
On March 24, the Novel York Stock Exchange (NYSE) partnered with tokenization platform Securitize to build a blockchain-based infrastructure for tokenized exchange-traded stocks and funds.
In January, the parent company of the Novel York Stock Exchange, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), shared plans for a tokenized securities system designed for 24/7 trading, instant settlement, stablecoin financing and onchain settlement.
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