Swift Partners with Chainlink to Explore Blockchain Integration

Swift, the international payment messaging network, has disclosed major insights from its recent studies exploring how blockchain technologies can integrate with its system. Collaborating with key financial organizations and Chainlink, Swift aimed to demonstrate its capabilities as a centralized platform for managing the movement of tokenized assets across various blockchains.

The experiment also involved major financial players such as ANZ, BNP Paribas, and Citi. Chainlink facilitated a secure link between Swift and Ethereum’s Sepolia testnet through its Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP). The research indicated that 97% of institutional investors anticipate that tokenization will significantly transform asset management.

Tokenization has the potential to increase operational efficiency, reduce costs, and broaden investor participation through fractional ownership. However, the increasing variety of blockchains supporting these tokenized assets creates a major hurdle. Financial organizations are forced to interact with each individual blockchain, leading to growing operational complexities and costs.

Swift’s research aimed to resolve this bottleneck by providing a unified, secure entry point to various blockchain networks, significantly easing the operational burdens faced by institutions. Swift’s infrastructure has the potential to act as the foundational layer for the global expansion of tokenized asset markets. Additionally, the studies delved into complex issues around data privacy, governance, operational risks, and legal compliance.

The trials covered the transfer of simulated tokenized assets both within a single public Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) network and between different public and private networks.

Tom Zschach, Swift’s Chief Innovation Officer, emphasized the critical role of interoperability in their strategy. He pointed out that their system could remove major roadblocks, thus fully unleashing the possibilities of tokenization.

Sergey Nazarov, Chainlink’s co-founder, observed, “It’s evident that leading banks and market infrastructures globally expect a rise in the adoption of digital assets throughout the banking sector. They believe that this will occur through the utilization of multiple blockchain technologies simultaneously.”

Swift plans to maintain its collaborative focus, particularly aiming to uncover valuable applications for tokenized assets, with special attention to secondary trading of non-listed assets and private markets.

source