Swift, the backbone of international banking communications, is taking another step into blockchain. The network announced on Monday that it is partnering with Ethereum developer Consensys and more than 30 financial institutions to create a blockchain-based settlement system for real-time, 24/7 cross-border payments.
The project’s first phase will see Consensys design a conceptual prototype, with subsequent phases defining how the infrastructure can be scaled and integrated globally. A key focus will be ensuring interoperability with both traditional banking networks and new blockchain ecosystems, while maintaining compliance with global financial regulations.
“The ledger will extend Swift’s financial communication role into a digital environment,” the organization said. The platform is also expected to support the exchange of tokenized assets, though the exact forms of tokens will be determined by central and commercial banks.
A New Digital Backbone for Traditional Finance
Long seen as an essential cog in global finance, Swift facilitates secure communication between banks but does not directly move money. More than 11,500 institutions across over 200 countries rely on Swift’s infrastructure to send payment instructions — making it one of the most critical components of the financial system.
Its dominance also means that sanctions or exclusion from Swift can effectively isolate a country or bank from the global economy. According to a Federal Reserve Bank of New York report, this makes Swift access one of the most powerful financial levers available to governments.
By integrating blockchain, Swift aims to provide a secure, auditable, real-time ledger of transactions between financial institutions. Analysts say this could help reduce settlement risks, minimize fraud, and improve the efficiency of cross-border payments — a long-standing pain point in the global financial system.
Swift’s Expanding Blockchain Experiments
This is not Swift’s first foray into distributed ledger technology. In March 2024, the network acknowledged tokenization as a natural fit for its infrastructure, while stressing the importance of a messaging layer to handle the scale of global financial data.
Later that year, Swift partnered with UBS Asset Management and Chainlink in Singapore’s Project Guardian to explore integrating tokenized funds with traditional fiat payments. In November, the network announced trials
involving North American, European, and Asian banks to test digital asset transactions across multiple currencies and asset classes.
With its latest collaboration with Consensys, Swift is signaling that blockchain will not remain a parallel innovation but could be embedded at the heart of how the global banking system settles value.