Swift, the backbone of the global financial messaging system, is taking a step to become a full blockchain infrastructure provider.
This week, the Network presented plans to build a shared accounting platform that allows banks to liquidate transactions involving stablecoins and tokenized assets in multiple blockchains.
Although Swift has long served as the messaging layer for cross -border money movement, the new platform would bring it closer to the value transfer center.
That is an important change for a traditional financial organization of more than 50 years known to handle communications among more than 11,500 banks, not to move money itself.
Swift’s changing paper
“Great development is Swift’s changing business model to deal with the disintermediation of blockchain,” said Noelle Acheson, author of the Crypto is macro now Information sheet. “Swift, today, does not transfer value; send messages. Ochain, the message and transfer are the same.
Acheson argued that the new platform could act as a “switching” layer for digital coins and tokenized assets, joining the isolated systems in another way. However, she questioned if Swift is still essential in a programmable money.
“Is Swift necessary in a tokenized financial system? No, it is not, but it has connections with practically all global banks,” he said.
Incorporation of banks to Stablecoins
These connections could give Swift an advantage while banks look for a path to Blockchain’s economy.
“The industry is moving at a fast pace, and Stablecoins are adopted worldwide at such a speed that traditional banks have to take note,” said Barry O’Sullivan, director of banking and payments at OpenPayd.
Swift said that more than 30 financial institutions are already committed to the project. O’Sullivan expects them to continue more as demand and regulatory clarity increase. “Adoption, interoperability and regulatory alignment will take time,” he said. “However, Swift is clearly positioning himself to play a significant role in the configuration of the evolution stable and the tokenized asset ecosystem.”
The Swift platform could also “materially” technical material “and integration costs for financial institutions that wish to embed stable in their operations, said David Duong, head of institutional research in Coinbase.
O’Sullivan pointed out that the platform could bring “some standardization to Stablecoin’s global ecosystem,” although fragmentation will probably persist. “Existing private stables, CBDC and regional solutions can continue to operate in parallel,” he said.
Years in manufacturing
Duong described the Swift initiative as a “decisive moment” for both crypto and traditional finances, but recalled that years have passed in development. The company has been experiencing with the distributed accounting technology since 2017, Duong said, including the realization of pilot projects with chain chain, Clearstream and Setl token -to -white stuff platforms and interoperability tests with CBDC. Developing its own shared book platform seems to be the next stage in that long -term transition, Duong said.
Even so, not everyone can see Swift as a neutral player. His role in the application of sanctions has led to distrust in countries where banks were separated from the network, Acheson said.
“It is not clear that its offer would stop the fragmentation of the payment systems, given the global distrust after Swift’s role in enforcing the sanctions of the United States and the EU,” he argued.
Even so, Swift’s decision emphasizes that the lines between traditional finances and blockchain are getting more and more intertwined and that the world’s largest financial institutions are, suddenly, suddenly, initiated to remain relevant.
