Swift Readies Ledger for 24/7 Token Transfers—Though True Settlement Is Stuck on Old Rails

Swift, the financial gatekeeper connecting thousands of banks across the globe, said on Thursday that a dozen-plus institutions are preparing to use its “blockchain-based ledger.”

The member-owned cooperative, which has functioned as the traditional financial system’s backbone for decades, expects 17 banks across six continents to participate in a pilot program involving the exchange of tokens that represent deposits, according to an announcement.

Highlighting the pilot’s potential weight, the participating institutions include several banks designated as Global Systemically Important Banks by the Financial Stability Board, such as BNP Paribas, BNY, Citi, HSBC, Standard Chartered, UBS, and Wells Fargo. 

While ultimate fiat settlement still relies on legacy systems during business hours, Swift noted that its blockchain-based ledger allows banks to move tokenized deposits “overnight and on weekends,” a feature inherent to all networks operating in the cryptocurrency realm.

“Banks benefit from improved client experience and global liquidity efficiency without compromising compliance, credit, risk and control standards embedded in existing payment processing,” Swift added.

The announcement reflects the ways in which traditional financial intermediaries are adopting blockchain in a manner that suits their existing businesses, while embracing the efficiencies that Wall Street executives have pointed to for years.

“We are redefining cross-border payments with Swift’s new blockchain-based ledger—combining tokenized deposits with our global network to deliver instant, always-on money movement,” Mahesh Kini, global head of cash management at Standard Chartered, said.

In a March blog post, Swift said its network features architecture compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), the software environment underpinning one of crypto’s go-to permissionless networks. Still, Swift’s network is largely centralized. It operates a shared environment for transactions, while banks maintain authority over their own assets.

Networks like XRP Ledger (XRPL) were designed to be a cheaper, faster alternative to Swift’s technology stack, specifically targeting slow settlement speeds. More recently, Canton Network has gained momentum among financial institutions by balancing compliance with privacy.

Financial incumbents like JPMorgan have dabbled with blockchains for years, rebranding its flagship solution and tokenization unit to Kinexys from Onyx in 2024. Swift noted in its announcement on Thursday that its product was created in nine months.