SWIFT launched a blockchain-based shared ledger after nine months of development, enabling 17 major banks to pilot 24/7 cross-border payments using tokenized deposits — marking the largest institutional push to bring blockchain settlement into regulated banking infrastructure.
The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication said Thursday its blockchain-based shared ledger is ready for initial use, with 17 banks from six continents preparing to pilot live cross-border payments using tokenized deposits. The ledger, built in nine months with feedback from international financial institutions, enables participating banks to settle transactions around the clock — including overnight and weekends — while maintaining existing compliance, credit and risk standards.
"With our new ledger capability, we're extending the trust and stability of established finance into the frontiers of digital money," Thierry Chilosi, chief business officer at SWIFT, said. "It allows tokenised value to move across borders with the velocity and flexibility modern commerce expects, while maintaining the same high levels of resiliency, security, and compliance global finance requires."
The ledger provides banks with a secure orchestration layer for bank-issued tokenized deposits on their own blockchains, allowing them to move customer funds before completing final settlement through existing systems. SWIFT's messaging network connects more than 11,500 banking and securities organizations across 200 countries and territories, and already moves the equivalent of global GDP every two to three days. Seventy-five percent of payments on its existing rails reach beneficiary banks within 10 minutes, often in seconds.
The pilot marks a decisive step in scaling digital value across the regulated financial system, setting the stage for future innovation in programmable money and agentic commerce. SWIFT plans to expand the ledger's functionality and availability after the initial controlled go-live phase, while continuing to advance its existing infrastructure toward G20 targets for faster, more transparent international transactions.
Why Tokenized Deposits, and Why Now
Tokenized deposits are digital representations of customer account balances that can be transferred over blockchain rails — distinct from stablecoins in that they are issued directly by regulated banks and carry deposit insurance protections. For corporate clients, the appeal is straightforward: real-time settlement without artificial cut-off times, improved liquidity visibility, and the ability to move money across time zones as easily as within a single market.
The 17 banks piloting the system span every major financial region. Participants include ANZ, BNP Paribas, BNY, Citi, DBS, FirstRand Bank, HSBC, Itaú Unibanco, Lloyds Bank, Mashreq, MUFG Bank, OCBC, Standard Chartered, UBS, UOB, Wells Fargo and First Abu Dhabi Bank. Several executives framed the initiative as a natural extension of their existing digital asset strategies. HSBC, which already operates a tokenized deposit service across multiple markets, said connecting to SWIFT's ledger is "an important milestone in the evolution of cross border payments." DBS, which has built a track record in both tokenized deposits and cross-border payments, said interoperability with existing rails will be critical for these capabilities to scale.
The Competitive Landscape Heats Up
SWIFT's move comes as traditional finance accelerates its embrace of blockchain infrastructure. A consortium including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Barclays, BNY and Wells Fargo announced plans in June to launch a competing tokenized deposit network in the first half of 2027, to be operated by The Clearing House. The New York Stock Exchange and its parent company Intercontinental Exchange have also unveiled plans for platforms to trade tokenized stocks and ETFs, while the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. received regulatory approval in May to offer tokenization services on pre-approved blockchains under a three-year pilot.
The broader tokenized real-world asset market has grown to $33.5 billion, according to RWA.xyz data, with tokenized equities surging 471% over the past year to $2.16 billion. SWIFT's entry into the space — backed by its existing network of more than 11,500 institutions — could accelerate adoption by providing a regulated bridge between traditional payment rails and digital asset infrastructure that smaller banks and corporate treasurers already trust.
For investors, the implications cut across multiple sectors. SWIFT's ledger validates the tokenized deposit use case at institutional scale, potentially compressing the timeline for broader adoption. Banks with existing tokenization capabilities — HSBC, DBS, Citi — may have a first-mover advantage in capturing corporate payment flows. Meanwhile, blockchain infrastructure providers that enable cross-chain interoperability stand to benefit as more institutions connect proprietary ledgers to shared networks. SWIFT said the ledger will expand in functionality after the initial go-live phase, with programmable money and agentic commerce cited as future use cases.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
