SWIFT collaborates with Ethereum ecosystem developer Consensys to jointly develop a blockchain settlement system.

According to a Monday announcement, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) is working with over 30 financial institutions and Consensys to develop a blockchain, with the primary goal of building a "real-time, around-the-clock cross-border payment" infrastructure.

One of the goals of the new blockchain is to achieve interoperability with "existing and emerging networks" while ensuring compliance. Consensys is responsible for the development of the concept prototype in the first phase and is planning future work stages.

The announcement stated: "This ledger will extend SWIFT's role in financial communications into the digital environment." SWIFT added that the platform will support the exchange of tokenized assets, with the specific types of tokens to be determined by central banks and commercial banks.

Blockchain was once seen as a "solution in search of a problem," but it is now being rapidly adopted by the traditional financial industry. The vision for SWIFT's new infrastructure is to "provide secure, real-time records for transactions between financial institutions."

Given that SWIFT underpins a significant portion of international payments in the modern financial ecosystem, this initiative is highly significant. According to information on its official website, over 11,500 institutions across more than 200 countries rely on the company's infrastructure to process transactions.

SWIFT does not directly transfer funds but reduces errors and fraud risks by providing an interbank communication network. Its influence is extensive; sanctions or exclusion of a country or bank from SWIFT effectively sever their ties to the global financial system.

According to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, "Due to the scarcity of alternatives to SWIFT, financial sanctions that restrict access to this network significantly increase costs for sanctioned entities."

This is not SWIFT's first foray into blockchain. In March 2024, SWIFT publicly acknowledged the value of tokenization and shared ledger models. The organization believes that its messaging layer still plays a crucial role in blockchain-based financial systems:

In November 2024, SWIFT will use its global financial messaging network to integrate tokenized fund processes with existing fiat payment systems. This initiative involves UBS Asset Management and the blockchain oracle network Chainlink and is part of the Monetary Authority of Singapore's Project Guardian.

By the end of the same year, SWIFT announced that banks in North America, Europe, and Asia would conduct digital asset pilots on its network. The pilot aims to explore how the banking network can provide financial institutions with unified access to "multiple categories and currencies of digital assets."

Related: Tether (USDT) and USDC dominate, with quarterly stablecoin inflows reaching $45 billion.

Original: “SWIFT collaborates with Consensys to establish a blockchain settlement system”

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