Swift Tests 24/7 Blockchain Rails for Cross-Border Payments

Swift is working on a blockchain-based shared ledger. They've finished the initial design phase with a group of global banks and are now building the first version. The result could be 24/7 cross-border payments using tokenized deposits, which is bank-issued digital money living on a blockchain.

Over 40 banks helped shape the design, including JP Morgan, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, and MUFG. The tech is open-source, using an Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible framework built on Hyperledger Besu. Swift will run the ledger, handling transaction orchestration and validation, while banks keep full control over their own keys, assets, and settlement through their existing systems. RTGS (real-time gross settlement) is the system central banks use to settle large-value payments instantly between financial institutions. Think of it as the plumbing behind wire transfers.

Their plan is to have a minimum viable product (MVP) processing real-world transactions by the end of this year. The ledger could mean faster payment execution, less reconciliation work, and interoperability across institutions. The same system could later handle programmable corporate payments, foreign exchange settlement, and even cash movements for securities trades.

For context, Swift connects over 11,500 institutions across more than 200 countries and handles trillions of dollars in payment messages daily. Traditional cross-border payments are slow, expensive, and only run during banking hours. This is Swift's attempt to fix that without blowing up the existing system. Not crypto replacing banks. Banks running crypto rails, but on their own terms.