Brussels, August 31, 2023: Global interbank messaging service provider Swift announced that its experimental operation using blockchain technology based on the Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol CCIP of Chainlink was a success.1
The Swift CCIP Chainlink experiment started in June 2023. It was announced in a press release on June 13, 2023, and the results were announced on August 31, 2023.
The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (Swift) started the trials on Tuesday, June 7, 2023. It announced a collaboration between major global banks and Web3 infrastructure provider Chainlink to trial connecting private and public permission less blockchains.2
The August 31 media release from Swift highlighted that its existing messaging standards, in conjunction with the Chainlink-developed Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol, had the potential to facilitate interoperability between traditional financial systems and emerging blockchain technologies.
Swift clarified that it employed its proprietary network along with the CCIP for creating a pilot solution.
The objective was to evaluate the potential for enabling financial institutions to engage with tokenized assets and perform transactions on public and private blockchain platforms while utilizing their current backend systems.
The following global financial institutions collaborated with Swift in the pilot project:
Euroclear, Lloyds Banking Group, BNP Paribas, SIX Digital Exchange, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, BNY Mellon, Citi, Clearstream, and The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation.
Swift claimed that the outcomes effectively showcased that there can be a secure connection between blockchains and conventional banking systems for conducting transactions.
In July 2023, Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov claimed that banks may adopt its newly launched CCIP protocol to connect with blockchains, claiming the protocol could help bring trillions of dollars into crypto from traditional finance.
Chainlink serves as a decentralized oracle network that finds extensive usage among blockchain smart contracts for incorporating real-world data.
In 2022, Swift launched tests to investigate how private blockchains among financial institutions could work together for tokenized assets
Building on this initiative, Swift is currently expanding its experiments to encompass public blockchains.
“More institutions are beginning to explore how to serve customers on both permissioned and public blockchain networks like Ethereum,” Jonathan Ehrenfeld, head of securities strategy at Swift, said in the statement. 2
- Swift: https://www.swift.com/news-events/press-releases/swift-unlocks-potential-tokenisation-successful-blockchain-experiments[↩]
- Swift: https://www.swift.com/news-events/news/swift-explores-blockchain-interoperability-remove-friction-tokenised-asset-settlement[↩][↩]
