SWIFT launches 24/7 blockchain for tokenized cross-border payments

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SWIFT, the messaging network that handles most of the world’s cross-border banking settlements, says it is ready to pilot a blockchain-based ledger for 24/7 tokenized payments. The system was first unveiled at Sibos in Frankfurt in September 2025 and reached the minimum viable product stage in just nine months. It also has 18 major banks preparing to test live transactions.

Participating institutions include ANZ (ANZ.AX), BNP Paribas (NASDAQ: BNPQF), BNY (NASDAQ: DMF), Citi (NASDAQ: C), DBS (NASDAQ: DBSDY), First Abu Dhabi Bank, FirstRand, HSBC (NASDAQ: HSBC), Itaú Unibanco (NASDAQ: ITUB), Lloyds (NASDAQ: LYG), Mashreq (MASQ.AE), MUFG (NASDAQ: MUFG), OCBC, Standard Bank (SGBLY), Standard Chartered (NASDAQ: SCBFF), UOB, and Wells Fargo (NASDAQ: WFC). More than 40 financial institutions were involved in the design phase, though the initial pilot group is smaller.

SWIFT said its goal is to create a shared ledger that records and validates interbank payment commitments in real time, using tokenized deposits as the underlying value representation. The benefits it promises are familiar to anyone following tokenized finance: greater liquidity efficiency, improved cash flow visibility, and faster cross-border execution. The ledger also supports seamless token recognition, making it compatible with central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), stablecoins, and other tokenized assets.

The ledger is built on Hyperledger Besu, an enterprise-grade, EVM-compatible blockchain developed by the Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger project. This is a private, permissioned network rather than a public blockchain. According to SWIFT’s announcement, individual banks retain custody of their own keys and assets, and no funds move to a centralized custodian. SWIFT is positioning the ledger as a coordination layer that complements existing rails rather than replacing them.

The messaging standard is ISO 20022, which SWIFT has already mandated for cross-border payments on its main network. This provides the ledger a natural fit with the bank’s existing infrastructure. EVM compatibility means institutions that have already invested in Ethereum-compatible tools can adopt the new system without starting from scratch.

Programmable money and agentic commerce

SWIFT also frames the ledger as a foundation for more ambitious use cases. The announcement mentioned “programmable money and agentic commerce” as future directions, suggesting the network is intended to eventually support AI-automated, machine-driven financial activity. That’s a significant statement from a conservative institution: even SWIFT sees a future where AI agents, not just people, move value across borders.

The focus is more pragmatic for now. The ledger records funding commitments between participating banks and settles them using tokenized commercial bank money. It is designed to reduce reconciliation burden and improve structural interoperability across financial institutions, while leaving each bank in control of its own systems.

The cautious, permissioned approach is understandable under existing circumstances. Banks are heavily regulated, traditionally risk-averse, and wary of any infrastructure that could compromise custody or settlement finality. A private blockchain lets them experiment with shared-state technology while keeping governance within the consortium.

The case for open networks, open standards

But this will also prompt a longer-term question among advocates of open, public blockchain networks, especially scalable ones like BSV. A consortium-controlled ledger is better than a single proprietary database, but it is still a gated system. The member banks and SWIFT itself decide governance, upgrades, and participation rules. A truly open network, by contrast, allows anyone to build on it, audit it, and connect to it without seeking permission.

This is the same tension the internet faced in the 1990s, when several companies tried to build closed, proprietary data networks using internet-like technology. Eventually, they discovered that the open public network was better for everyone—not because it lacked security, but because openness enabled greater innovation and interoperability. Organizations of all kinds, including governments and military agencies, now send sensitive, confidential data across the public internet every day, using encryption to keep that information private even on an open network.

Public blockchains can offer the same combination. The public ledger is open and auditable, but the data and assets stored on it can be encrypted and controlled by private keys. Theoretically, SWIFT’s banks could achieve the same transparency and interoperability on a public chain, while retaining custody of their own funds and confidential transaction details.

Whether that transition happens depends on regulation, changes in risk appetite, and institutions’ willingness to accept that governance can be decentralized without becoming ungoverned.

For now, SWIFT’s ledger is a notable step. It’s a conservative entry into blockchain-based settlement by the very institution that has defined cross-border banking messaging for decades. It validates the idea that tokenized deposits and programmable money are moving from experiment to serious infrastructure. The only question is whether the infrastructure that wins will be open to everyone or only to those already members of the club.

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