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Swift is preparing to add a blockchain-based shared ledger to its global payments infrastructure, marking a significant step in the financial messaging network’s push to connect traditional banking rails with the fast-evolving world of tokenised assets.
Swift blockchain ledger for tokenised assets
The move follows the successful completion of a series of interoperability trials in which Swift demonstrated its ability to coordinate the issuance, settlement and lifecycle management of tokenised bonds across multiple platforms and currencies.
From messaging to orchestration
In the trial, Swift worked alongside BNP Paribas Securities Services, Intesa Sanpaolo and Société Générale, using blockchain-based assets while maintaining connectivity with existing financial infrastructure.
The banks acted as paying agents and custodians, illustrating how tokenised instruments can be supported within established capital markets roles.
A central feature of the initiative was delivery-versus-payment (DvP) settlement, a cornerstone of securities markets that ensures assets and cash move simultaneously.
For this purpose, Swift integrated digital assets issued by SG Forge, including its euro-denominated EURCV stablecoin.
The trial supported settlement in both fiat currency and stablecoins, as well as key lifecycle events such as interest payments and bond redemption.
According to Swift, this marks the first time it has shown the ability to orchestrate tokenised asset transactions as a single, end-to-end process spanning blockchain networks and traditional systems.
A bridge between old and new rails
Rather than positioning blockchain as a replacement for existing infrastructure, Swift is framing its role as connective tissue.
By combining blockchain platforms with established messaging standards such as ISO 20022 and ISO 15022, the network aims to shield financial institutions from unnecessary technical complexity while preserving compliance and operational resilience.
Thomas Dugauquier, Swift’s tokenised assets product lead, said the trials demonstrated how collaboration and interoperability could accelerate adoption.
By allowing banks to engage with digital assets through familiar workflows, Swift believes it can lower the barrier to entry for tokenisation at scale.
This approach reflects a broader shift in market sentiment.
Tokenised securities are increasingly viewed not as experimental novelties, but as extensions of existing capital markets — provided they can integrate cleanly with payments, custody and settlement infrastructure.
Shared ledger ambitions
With the trials completed, Swift is now focused on building a shared, blockchain-based ledger as part of its core technology stack.
Initially, the ledger will be used to support real-time, 24/7 cross-border payments, designed in collaboration with more than 30 banks globally.
The objective is not to compete with public blockchains or private ledgers, but to provide a neutral coordination layer that links disparate systems.
In doing so, Swift hopes to preserve its central role in global finance as assets, currencies and settlement models continue to fragment.
As tokenisation moves from pilot to production, Swift’s strategy suggests that the future of financial infrastructure may be less about replacing legacy rails — and more about teaching them to speak a new language.
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