Swift Unveils Blockchain-Based Ledger to Revolutionize Global Payments Infrastructure
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Swift has announced a landmark initiative to embed a blockchain-powered shared ledger into its infrastructure, aiming to accelerate the adoption of digital finance across more than 200 countries and territories.
The move, revealed at the Sibos conference in Frankfurt, signals a pivotal shift toward always-on, real-time cross-border payments.
In partnership with ConsenSys, Swift is building a conceptual prototype of the ledger that will serve as a secure, real-time log of transactions between financial institutions. The first use case will focus on 24/7 cross-border payments, with smart contracts providing automated validation, sequencing, and compliance.
The project already involves input from more than 30 global banks, including Bank of America, Citi, HSBC, JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, Santander, and Standard Chartered.
Swift CEO Javier Pérez-Tasso emphasized that the initiative is about creating “the infrastructure stack of the future,” combining Swift’s long-standing reliability with the innovation of distributed ledger technology (DLT). By enabling tokenized value transfer across both public and private networks, the system aims to deliver seamless interoperability with existing fiat rails while preparing for emerging digital ecosystems.
Beyond the ledger, Swift also confirmed it will expand orchestration services to help institutions bridge between legacy systems and blockchain-based environments. This dual-track strategy, upgrading today’s rails while developing tomorrow’s, reflects Swift’s vision of maintaining its role at the core of global finance as tokenization and digital assets gain momentum.
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