Swift Network to Offer Interoperable Digital Asset Payments to Clients

By Ben Knight September 13, 2024 In Cryptocurrency, Payments
SWIFT, Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications, online payment and financial regulation concept.
Source:AdobeStock
  • Payments Goliath Swift has entrenched itself in the digital asset space with a new report highlighting the company’s vision for its network.
  • The team has spent significant time and resources on researching how to ensure tokenised assets can seamlessly be transferred across private and public chains.
  • This could be a big coup for businesses that run independent networks yet wish to leverage the benefits of cryptocurrency.
  • Looking forward, Swift intends to improve DvP payments via digital currencies on its network, supporting instant settlement of asset-to-cash transactions.

International payment and banking giants Swift has strengthened its connection to the digital asset community by offering efficient crypto transfers to its range of institutional and everyday clients. In a media release published on the 11th of September, Swift was bullish on crypto’s future moving into the latter half of the decade, citing predictions of a USD$30T (AU$45T) tokenised asset market by 2034. 

The report also highlighted a survey from Celent and BNY Mellon that uncovered 91% of institutional investors are interested in some form of exposure to the tokenised asset sector.

Related: Standard Chartered Begins Offering Bitcoin, Ethereum Custody Service in UAE

Swift Network to Provide Interoperable Transfer of Tokenised Assets

One of Swift’s key goals is to improve interoperability among the “divergent platforms, technologies and regulatory environments that underpin digital innovation…leading to the emergence of an ecosystem of fragmented ‘digital islands.’”

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According to the report, Swift has focussed on solving these issues for several years now. In particular, the institution wants to extend “global interoperability to CBDCs and tokenised assets” by leveraging the company’s far-reaching payment network.

This is something that they experimented with in 2023 when adopting the Ethereum Sepolia protocol to support sending tokenised assets across both public and private blockchains via the same source.

Interoperable DvP Settlements Next in Line for Swift

The next challenge Swift is striving to overcome is mixing interoperability with Delivery-versus-payment (DvP) settlements. Essentially, DvP refers to transacting assets at the same time – so payment is made before or alongside the delivery of assets. 

Related: First US Congressional DeFi Hearing Reveals Sharp Divide Over Regulatory Framework

Solving this could go a long way to improving tokenised asset transfer on the Swift network.

In the future, this could enable securities buyers to simultaneously pay for and exchange tokenised assets in real time on our network.

Swift

Swift’s tests will start off using fiat currency – a simpler feat to overcome – but will eventually evolve into testing CBDCs, stablecoins and other tokenised assets.

Where these experiments will lead Swift remain to be seen, but the news demonstrates yet another big-name institution prioritising crypto as they move forward.

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Ben Knight
Author

Ben Knight

Ben Knight is a writer and editor from Melbourne with a passion for all things music and finance. He enjoys turning complex topics – especially the technical details of cryptocurrency – into digestible bites that anybody can understand. He acquired his Master’s in Writing, Editing and Publishing from RMIT in 2019 and has run his own creative writing business ever since.

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