SWIFT's Blockchain Ledger has gone live — what impact will it have on stablecoin issuers and the geopolitical landscape? Source: CCN.
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Key Takeaways
SWIFT has launched a blockchain-based shared ledger that enables 17 major banks to pilot 24/7 tokenized cross-border payments.
The upgrade strengthens SWIFT’s competitive position.
This launch has reignited debate over XRP.
Global financial messaging network SWIFT has launched a blockchain-based payments platform in a direct challenge to private stablecoin giants Tether and Circle.
At the same time, it has raised the stakes in the race against BRICS nations seeking to build alternative payment rails outside the Western financial system — but will it have an impact?
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The Belgium-based cooperative said on Wednesday that 17 banks across six continents, including Citi, HSBC, UBS, BNY, Wells Fargo, Standard Chartered and BNP Paribas, are preparing to begin live pilots using the new infrastructure.
The platform enables financial institutions to transfer tokenized deposits in real time, including overnight and on weekends, before completing final settlement through existing banking infrastructure.
Implemented in 9 months. Global from day one.
Swift's blockchain-based ledger is ready for use, with ANZ, BNP Paribas, BNY, Citi, DBS Bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), FirstRand, HSBC, Itaú Unibanco, Lloyds Banking Group, Mashreq, MUFG, OCBC, Standard Chartered, UBS, UOB and… pic.twitter.com/kOg9DumptG
SWIFT said the system was developed in nine months following feedback from participating institutions.
“Our new capability extends the trust and stability of established finance into the frontiers of digital money,” SWIFT Chief Business Officer Thierry Chilosi said in a statement.
SWIFT Blockchain Challenges Stablecoins
The latest initiative addresses one of the biggest advantages that private stablecoins have gained in recent years: around-the-clock settlement.
Dollar-pegged stablecoins issued by Tether and Circle have increasingly been used by companies to move funds internationally outside traditional banking hours, avoiding delays associated with conventional wire transfers.
By enabling banks to move tokenized deposits around the clock via existing financial infrastructure, SWIFT aims to offer many of the same operational benefits.
While SWIFT remains the undisputed leader — handling approximately $190 trillion in annual cross-border value across 11,000 member institutions — on-chain alternatives have achieved critical growth.
Total stablecoin transaction volumes surged to $33 trillion, with genuine commercial business-to-business (B2B) payments carving out a $390 billion subset of that market, according to The Critical Banker.
The banks’ pivot to internal tokenization is primarily a defensive play against a sharp erosion in transaction margins.
Traditional correspondent networks that move money via SWIFT typically require 3 to 5 business days to clear, saddling corporate treasuries with all-in friction fees of 2% to 7%.
By contrast, public stablecoins settle in under three minutes at a fraction of a percent.
BRICS Alternatives Face Fresh Competition
The rollout also comes as BRICS nations continue developing alternative cross-border payment infrastructure aimed at reducing reliance on Western financial systems.
Projects, including BRICS Pay and the proposed BRICS Bridge settlement network, have been built to deliver cross-border payments in local currencies while reducing dependence on US dollar-based infrastructure.
SWIFT’s latest upgrade removes one of the main technical arguments supporting those alternatives by addressing longstanding concerns around settlement speed.
However, whether SWIFT’s technical evolution can fundamentally derail the alternative payment push depends on geopolitics, which has remained the true driver of de-dollarization.
The BRICS alliance is expanding its sovereign infrastructure.
Unlike SWIFT, which remains subject to Western and G7 regulatory oversight, BRICS payment projects are primarily intended to increase monetary sovereignty.
For nations exposed to economic sanctions, migrating away from traditional networks is an existential shield.
This friction has already forced major players like Russia to shift up to 90% of their internal BRICS trade to national billing systems following the 2022 asset freezes and network exclusions.
Because SWIFT’s blockchain orchestration layer offers zero protection against capital blocks, technology alone cannot eliminate the political trust deficit driving alternative rails.
Consequently, the upgrade will likely prevent non-aligned nations from abandoning traditional rail lines due to operational frustrations, but it will not prevent the core BRICS alliance from expanding its sovereign infrastructure.
This dual reality is already visible, with several banks from BRICS member and partner countries participating in SWIFT’s pilots—including Brazil’s Itaú Unibanco and South Africa’s FirstRand.
XRP Debate Reignites as Ripple Keeps Banking Ties
The launch has also sparked a long-running debate over XRP’s role in cross-border payments.
Many XRP holders fear that SWIFT’s ability to deliver 24/7 settlement using tokenized commercial bank deposits weakens one of Ripple’s core value propositions.
Supporters, however, argue that the technologies are complementary rather than competing.
More than 30 banks connected to SWIFT’s broader payments ecosystem also have relationships with Ripple, according to industry estimates.
Roughly 40% of those institutions use Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) service, which utilizes XRP as a bridge asset.
“XRP isn’t replacing SWIFT. It’s becoming the liquidity bridge inside it,” Versan Aljarrah, founder of BlackSwanCapitalist.io, wrote on X.
Ripple has also continued expanding its regulatory footprint.
The company says it now holds more than 75 regulatory licenses globally and serves more than 300 financial institutions.
Kurt Robson is a London-based reporter at CCN, specialising in the fast-moving worlds of crypto and emerging technology. He began his career covering local news in Cornwall after graduating from Falmouth University with First Class Honours in Journalism. There, he cut his teeth on everything from council meetings to missing swans.
He quickly rose through the ranks to become a frontline journalist at several of the UK’s leading national newspapers. Over the years, he has interviewed musicians and celebrities, reported from courtrooms and crime scenes, and secured multiple front-page exclusives.
Following the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kurt shifted his focus to technology journalism—just ahead of the AI boom. With a natural curiosity and a trained eye for emerging trends, he has found a new rhythm in reporting on innovation.
At CCN, Kurt's work focuses on the cutting edge of crypto, blockchain, AI, and the evolving digital world. Drawing on his background in people-first reporting and his deep interest in disruptive tech, Kurt delivers stories that are insightful, entertaining, and human-centric.
