SWIFT, the messaging backbone connecting more than 11,000 financial institutions in more than 200 countries, has confirmed that its blockchain-based shared ledger has advanced to its first MVP iteration.
After completing the design phase with a global banking group, the network is currently preparing for live trading later this year.
What SWIFT’s blockchain ledger actually does
The shared ledger is not a public blockchain and does not use native cryptocurrencies. It is a permissioned infrastructure layer built on Linea, the Ethereum Layer 2 network developed by ConsenSys.
This ledger uses smart contracts to record, order, and verify transactions between financial institutions, allowing tokenized deposits, regulated stablecoins, and central bank digital currencies to move between financial institutions in real-time, 24 hours a day.
Our plan to build a blockchain-based shared ledger has reached another major milestone.
After completing the design phase with a global banking group, we are currently forming the first MVP iteration of the ledger. This enables bank-tokenized deposits and interoperability between banks… pic.twitter.com/CPB8ucMhqu
— Swift (@swiftcommunity) March 30, 2026
problems that can be solved
Traditional cross-border payments rely on correspondent banking networks that operate during business hours, involve multiple intermediaries, and incur significant coordination overhead.
The SWIFT ledger disrupts that process by combining messaging and payments into one layer, giving banks faster payment execution, better liquidity visibility, and significantly reducing reconciliation efforts.
The design phase brought together more than 30 global financial institutions, including JPMorgan, HSBC, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and Bank of America.
Their input shaped the ledger’s features, governance model, and future development roadmap.
what happens next
MVP is scheduled to go live with real transactions this year. SWIFT is positioning the ledger not as a replacement for existing messaging infrastructure, but as a parallel track that allows institutions to access blockchain-based payments without redesigning their internal workflows or compliance processes.
The implications for the $183 trillion annual cross-border payments market are significant.
This article, SWIFT moves to blockchain payments in live trial, was first published on BeInCrypto.
