Swift is gearing up for live trials of digital asset and currency transactions on its global network, with banks across Asia, Europe, and North America set to participate starting next year. This marks a significant milestone towards large-scale institutional adoption of digital assets, as previous tests had been conducted in controlled environments.
The upcoming live trials will allow commercial and central banks to interact seamlessly across both traditional and emerging asset types using their existing Swift connections. An advanced version of Swift’s infrastructure will be used to orchestrate these transactions across multiple networks for the first time.
A core challenge Swift aims to address is the issue of isolated digital platforms, often referred to as “digital islands,” which risk fragmenting the adoption of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and tokenized assets. Swift’s global network aims to interconnect these digital and traditional systems, offering a unified platform for banks to conduct cross-border transactions.
As the CBDC exploration spreads across 134 countries and the tokenized asset market is projected to reach $30 trillion by 2034, Swift sees itself as a crucial player in ensuring global interconnectivity. Tom Zschach, Swift’s chief innovation officer, emphasized that digital assets must coexist seamlessly with traditional money for large-scale success:
“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.”