Swift is set to begin live trials of digital asset and currency transactions across its network in 2025, marking a major step toward real-world blockchain settlement. This move will shift the company from testing environments to practical applications, connecting banks globally with its well-established infrastructure.
Global Banks to Participate in Live Trials
Starting next year, financial institutions in North America, Europe, and Asia will participate in live trials of digital asset and currency transactions. Swift, which currently serves more than 11,500 financial institutions, has conducted previous experiments in controlled settings. However, these new trials will pilot an advanced version of Swift’s infrastructure, enabling real-world digital asset and currency settlements for the first time.
Bridging Digital and Traditional Currency Systems
The live trials will utilize Swift’s existing global messaging network, which will connect digital and fiat currency platforms. By creating a unified system, banks can seamlessly transact across borders, whether using traditional or digital currencies. Swift emphasized that these trials aim to demonstrate how financial institutions can conduct transactions using their current Swift connections, bridging the gap between existing and emerging financial systems.
Global financial institutions will leverage Swift’s platform to conduct pilot transactions that include both digital assets and fiat currencies. This integration is designed to show how traditional banking systems can adapt to the growing demand for digital assets.
Moving from Testing to Real-World Applications
This announcement follows a series of successful experiments where Swift collaborated with Web3 services provider Chainlink to connect its network to the Ethereum Sepolia test network. These tests demonstrated that Swift could act as a single access point for various blockchain networks, supporting institutions creating tokenized assets and developing central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), a growing focus among 134 countries.
Swift’s Chief Innovation Officer, Tom Zschach, emphasized the importance of digital assets and traditional currencies coexisting on a global scale. “For digital assets and currencies to succeed on a global scale, it’s critical that they can seamlessly coexist with traditional forms of money,” Zschach said. Swift’s vast global reach, he noted, uniquely positions the company to bridge both emerging and established forms of value.
Addressing Fragmentation in Digital Platforms
One of the main goals of these live trials is to address the increasing number of disconnected digital platforms, which could slow down the global adoption of new financial systems. Without proper interconnectivity between platforms, Swift warns, widespread adoption of digital assets will remain fragmented.
“As new forms of value emerge, we aim to continue offering our community the ability to seamlessly track and transact all kinds of assets, using the same secure infrastructure that is integral to their operations today,” Zschach added. Swift’s initiative highlights its commitment to ensuring that digital assets can thrive alongside traditional banking systems, paving the way for future financial innovation.
Conclusion
Swift’s 2025 live trials represent a significant milestone in the adoption of digital asset transactions. By linking digital and traditional currencies, Swift is positioning itself as a key player in the future of global finance. These trials are expected to demonstrate the potential for widespread, interconnected financial systems that support both digital and fiat currencies, signaling a new era for banking institutions worldwide.
