Banks worldwide will begin live trials next year for digital asset and currency transactions on the Swift network.
Although the Swift network has previously facilitated digital asset transactions in test environments, the transition to live trials marks a significant advancement toward large-scale institutional adoption.
Commercial and central banks across Asia, Europe, and North America are set to commence live pilots, which Swift claims will showcase their ability to conduct transactions across both established and emerging asset and currency types using their existing Swift connections.
These trials will utilize an upgraded version of the Swift infrastructure, designed to orchestrate digital asset and currency transactions across networks for the first time.
Swift is addressing a critical challenge in the rapidly changing digital asset market: the emergence of disconnected digital platforms, or ‘digital islands,’ which could impede broader adoption and usability of new value forms.
Currently, 134 countries are exploring Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), and the tokenized assets market is projected by Standard Chartered and Synpulse to reach as high as $30 trillion by 2034.
Swift contends that without interconnectivity between platforms, global adoption will remain fragmented. The organization believes it can tackle this issue through its global network by linking various digital and traditional currency platforms, offering a unified system for banks to conduct cross-border transactions.
Tom Zschach, Chief Innovation Officer at Swift, stated, “For digital assets and currencies to succeed on a global scale, it’s critical that they can seamlessly coexist with traditional forms of money. With our vast global reach, we are uniquely positioned to bridge both emerging and established forms of value, and we’re now focused on demonstrating this in real-world, mainstream applications.”