SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) announced today (19th) that it is collaborating with more than 30 financial institutions worldwide to develop a blockchain-based shared digital ledger aimed at supporting the large-scale circulation of regulated tokenized assets.
Key details: Interoperability and industry cooperation become the focus
According to SWIFT, this shared digital ledger will serve as a secure, real-time record of transactions between financial institutions. Through smart contracts, it will automatically verify transaction order, enforce rules, and maintain SWIFT's consistent reliability and security. It will not replace existing systems but will operate in parallel with traditional infrastructure, bridging traditional finance and tokenized assets, and addressing the fragmentation problem currently facing digital finance—multiple isolated networks struggling to interoperate, limiting scalability and adoption speed.
SWIFT emphasizes that this project is the result of collective industry efforts, and it has already partnered with over 30 leading global institutions, technology partners, and central banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and HSBC, covering North America, Europe, and Asia. Technically, SWIFT collaborated with Ethereum ecosystem developer Consensys to develop a concept prototype, utilizing its Layer-2 network to ensure scalability and privacy. Initial applications focus on 24/7 instant cross-border payments, with future expansion planned to include tokenized deposits, stablecoins, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and digital securities.
Michael Spiegel, Global Head of Transaction Banking at Standard Chartered Bank, commented, "The digital finance landscape is at a tipping point, with tokenization and digital assets about to move from pilot programs to the mainstream." This reflects that tokenization is no longer an experiment, but a real need for financial institutions to pursue instant and secure value transfer.
SWIFT's Vision for the Future of Finance
SWIFT believes that interconnected digital infrastructure is key to the future of global commerce. By connecting tokenized assets across networks and jurisdictions, industries will be better able to support trade, payments, and economic growth. This is not just a technological upgrade, but also about enabling finance to operate at the speed required by the modern economy—achieving 24/7 service, reducing costs, optimizing liquidity, and bringing new efficiency and innovation.
SWIFT CEO Javier Pérez-Tasso also pointed out that this is a key step in the "future infrastructure stacking," emphasizing parallel innovation: upgrading existing tracks while building digital tracks, providing industries with maximum flexibility in choice.
This initiative continues SWIFT’s digital asset experimentation over the past two years, including its collaboration with Chainlink and immediate pilot programs, and is expected to accelerate the growth of the tokenized asset market (which could reach tens of trillions of dollars by 2030).
