Citi and Swift have completed a groundbreaking trial to enable payment-to-payment (PvP) payments between fiat and digital currencies.
The trial used Swift’s existing infrastructure, enhanced with blockchain connectors, orchestration tools, and smart contracts.
Citi used a test USDC on Ethereum’s Sepolia network to simulate a real-world situation.
Citi and Swift recently completed a successful trial demonstrating that payments can be settled between fiat and digital currencies using a payment-to-payment setup. This is a major step forward and highlights how hybrid models can integrate traditional financial systems with modern blockchain networks.
Learn how Citi and Swift achieved this milestone and how exactly it works.
This is achieved by using Swift’s existing infrastructure, further powered by secure blockchain connectors, orchestration tools, and smart contracts.
structure
Citi and Swift have created a messaging system that tracks end-to-end processes. It also includes an escrow mechanism to handle irreversible blockchain transfers, ensuring PvP settlements and eliminating risk for both parties.
A central system coordinates the message flow between fiat and digital currency transactions, ensuring synchronization and finality. For this test, Citi used a test USDC token on Ethereum’s Sepolia network to simulate real-world conditions.
Citi and Swift will continue to hone this approach in collaboration with the broader financial community and build the standards needed for secure and scalable digital asset transactions.
Strengthening payments with blockchain
“These trials using Swift represent a major step forward in building the infrastructure needed for digital currency transactions.” said Aisa Latif, head of FX products.
Jonathan Ehrenfeld, Head of Strategy at Swift, emphasized Swift’s role as a trusted bridge between tokenization systems and the global financial community by leveraging existing networks while adding the necessary tools for fiat digital currency payments.
Rising demand for stablecoins
Citi GPS expects the stablecoin market alone to grow to nearly USD 1.9 trillion by 2030 as new use cases emerge and regulations become clearer.
Stablecoins have close to $1 trillion in circulation per month, but are primarily used as bridging and often converted into local currencies.
Easier payments in different currencies
Settlements between fiat currencies and digital currencies remain difficult. This is because fiat currencies operate differently because they are held in bank accounts and digital assets on the blockchain. While current FX tools can identify digital assets, they are not designed to settle both at the same time.
This is exactly what Citi and Swift are trying to address with this initiative.
Citi’s Digital Asset Initiatives
Citi is making big moves when it comes to digital assets.
In October, it partnered with Coinbase to facilitate payments for institutional customers. It also revealed plans to connect its blockchain-based token service with 24/7 USD clearing to provide 24-hour cross-border payments.
Looking ahead, Citi aims to launch a cryptocurrency custodian service in 2026 to store customers’ digital assets.
