According to Bloomberg, Swift, the operator of the global financial messaging system, announced the launch of a project to build a blockchain registry. The initiative involves more than 30 leading banks, including JPMorgan, HSBC, Bank of America, and Deutsche Bank.
The first version will focus on accelerating and automating cross-border settlements. The development uses technology from Consensys, founded by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin.
The goal of the project is to integrate into the Swift system the ability to settle using various types of digital assets: stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and other tokenized instruments. This is a continuation of years of experiments by Swift and major banks with blockchain, including participation in Project Guardian launched by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Swift serves more than 11,500 organizations in 200 countries and territories, providing daily messaging for tens of millions of transactions worth trillions of dollars.
Against the backdrop of growing interest in stablecoins and tokenized settlements, banks are aiming to cut costs and increase payment speeds. However, existing projects often faced the problem of fragmentation, where different banking networks did not interact with each other.
Swift CEO Javier Pérez-Tasso stated that the company already provides effective settlement channels but aims to create an “infrastructure stack of the future” for digital finance.
Swift did not specify the timeline for the initiative, noting that the project will be part of a strategy to ensure settlements regardless of the form of value transfer.
This post is for informational purposes only and is not advertising or investment advice. Please do your own research before making any decisions.