In a major development, the Swift network will allow commercial and central banks to conduct live digital asset transactions between different blockchain ledgers starting in 2025, paving the way for widespread institutional adoption of blockchain technology.
The organization behind the global financial messaging system said it will enable lenders to transfer money and assets in test live transactions, moving beyond its previous experimentation with such blockchain-based transactions only in test environments.

“What we don’t want to see is the emergence of what we call ‘digital islands,'” said Nick Kerigan, Swift’s chief innovation officer. “We’ve tried to help the industry find a way to ensure that wherever a digital asset or digital currency is created and on whatever technology it’s created, it can successfully interoperate with the existing financial system.”
The change comes as banks like JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup have been developing their own blockchain capabilities for years, leading to a fragmentation of the technology where lenders’ networks are not easily interoperable. Meanwhile, the use of blockchain networks to tokenize assets such as customer deposits and bonds is steadily increasing, with the total value of tokenized assets globally expected to reach $30 trillion by 2034, according to research by Standard Chartered.
Swift, which is overseen by central banks worldwide, operates a global messaging network used by more than 11,000 financial institutions in over 200 countries to route transactions worth trillions of dollars. The organization began experimenting with blockchain-based transactions to support central bank digital currencies in 2021, conducting trials and pilot programs within a test environment.
The upcoming live trials will cover both payments and securities settlement, though Kerigan declined to name the specific banks that have expressed interest in participating. Previous participants in Swift’s blockchain experiments included Deutsche Bank, HSBC, NatWest Group, Santander, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., and Shanghai Commercial & Savings Bank.
“As we see greater adoption of blockchain by the financial community, particularly in the area of digital assets and digital currency, we’re compelled to also be able to incorporate those technologies – and the platforms that are based on those technologies – into our ecosystem,” Kerigan said.
The move by Swift represents a significant step forward in the integration of blockchain technology into the traditional financial system, potentially paving the way for broader institutional acceptance of digital assets and cryptocurrencies.