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SWIFT Has Officially Announced Its Own Blockchain Initiative Recently, SWIFT unveiled its plans to set up a proprietary blockchain platform. This innovative solution will feature a shared ledger system enabling banks to conduct settlements using stablecoins and tokenized assets across various blockchains continuously, 24/7. This represents a transformative step for SWIFT, an organization that links more than 11,500 banks in over 200 countries. It is evolving from being merely a messaging facilitator to becoming a direct participant in digital financial transactions. More than thirty financial entities are already collaborating on this initiative, including notable names such as JPMorgan, HSBC, Bank of America, and Deutsche Bank. The technical development is being handled by Consensys, a firm co-founded by Joseph Lubin, one of Ethereum's original developers. “A crucial change is the shift in SWIFT's business model aimed at addressing the disintermediation created by blockchain technology. While SWIFT presently handles messaging without transferring value, the essence of blockchain integrates both messaging and value transfer,” explains Noëll Echison, an analyst with CoinDesk and Genesis Trading. SWIFT has been exploring blockchain technologies since 2017, having run pilot projects alongside Chainlink, Clearstream, SETL, and engaging with national digital currencies (CBDCs). This development is particularly pertinent now as tokenization is rapidly progressing, prompting banks to seek secure and compliant avenues for entering the digital asset market. Recently, in light of several major European banks collaborating on their own stablecoin, Visa also announced its intention to introduce cryptocurrency payment options. “The pace of change in the market is unprecedented, and stablecoins are already facilitating global settlements. Banks cannot afford to overlook this trend. SWIFT's involvement will greatly streamline the technical integration for financial institutions, thereby speeding up the incorporation of digital assets into the conventional financial framework,” stated Barry O’Sullivan, Director of Banking Services at OpenPayd. David Duong, Head of Institutional Research at Coinbase, referred to this endeavor as a “turning point” linking traditional finance with the cryptocurrency sector. He believes that the new infrastructure will help to lower expenses, standardize operational procedures, and expedite the formation of a global network for tokenized assets. Nevertheless, experts express skepticism regarding SWIFT's ability to maintain its neutrality; its engagement with US and EU sanctions has already led to mistrust among certain nations. Moreover, even if successful, the new platform may not resolve existing fragmentation, as private stablecoins, CBDCs, and regional solutions are expected to persist concurrently. In the near term, SWIFT aims for a gradual integration of financial institutions into its platform contingent on the establishment of clear regulatory frameworks. Looking ahead, the organization envisions the development of a universal standard for digital transactions that could profoundly reshape the landscape of global finance.