The global banking network Swift is teaming up with blockchain developer Consensys and over 30 major banks to create a new way to send money across borders.
The project uses blockchain technology to make international payments faster and available around the clock.
Swift announced the partnership on September 29, 2025, at the Sibos conference in Frankfurt, Germany. The organization, which connects more than 11,500 financial institutions in over 200 countries, plans to build a blockchain-based ledger for real-time cross-border payments.
“We provide powerful and effective rails today and are moving at a rapid pace with our community to create the infrastructure stack of the future,” said Swift CEO Javier Pérez-Tasso at the conference. “Through this initial ledger concept we are paving the way for financial institutions to take the payments experience to the next level.”
Why Swift Is Making This Change
Today, Swift only sends payment instructions between banks. It doesn’t actually move money. Instead, banks rely on multiple systems and middlemen to complete transactions, which can be slow and expensive.
The new blockchain system aims to combine messaging and settlement into one process. This would let banks track payments in real time while reducing costs. Swift handles value equivalent to the world’s entire GDP roughly every three days, so even small improvements could have massive effects.
Financial institutions from 16 countries are helping design the new system. Major participating banks include Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, BNP Paribas, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Citi, and many others across North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
The Technology Behind the Project
Swift chose Consensys, a major Ethereum blockchain development company, to build the conceptual prototype. Consensys is known for developing MetaMask wallet and other blockchain infrastructure tools.
Reports from industry sources suggest the project may use Linea, an Ethereum Layer 2 network also developed by Consensys. Linea uses zero-knowledge proofs, which act like advanced encryption that proves something is true without revealing the actual information behind it.
This approach would let banks test blockchain features without exposing sensitive customer data. Zero-knowledge technology processes transactions off the main Ethereum blockchain, then records only the final results. This makes transactions faster and cheaper while keeping Ethereum’s security features.
The new ledger will record, sequence, and validate transactions while enforcing rules through smart contracts. Smart contracts are computer programs that automatically execute when certain conditions are met, removing the need for manual processing.
Previous Steps Toward Blockchain
This isn’t Swift’s first blockchain project. In November 2024, Swift worked with UBS Asset Management and Chainlink to test tokenized fund settlements. That pilot showed how digital assets could work with traditional payment systems across Swift’s global network.
In October 2024, Swift announced that banks across North America, Europe, and Asia would begin live digital asset trials in 2025. These earlier blockchain experiments helped prepare the organization for this larger initiative.
Competition and Market Impact
The announcement affects the competitive landscape for cross-border payments. Ripple has spent years promoting its blockchain system as a faster, cheaper alternative to Swift. However, Swift’s new blockchain infrastructure could offer similar benefits while working with established banking partners.
Rather than using Ripple’s technology, Swift chose to build on Ethereum’s ecosystem through Consensys. This decision signals that Ethereum has gained trust among traditional financial institutions.
Market reaction to the news was immediate. According to reports, Linea’s token price jumped by over 10% within hours of initial reports about the partnership on September 26, rising from $0.02544 to $0.02814 as trading activity increased.
What Happens Next
The project will take several months to complete. Consensys will develop a conceptual prototype in the first phase. After that, Swift will define future work phases and eventually roll out the system to its global community.
Swift also mentioned exploring tokens for bank settlement. This would transform Swift from just a messaging service into a platform that handles actual value transfer. However, specific plans remain under development.
Banks participating in the project shared positive views. ANZ Banking Services Lead Nigel Dobson said the blockchain ledger “can be a powerful infrastructure upgrade and a pivotal step toward global, instant, always-on cross border transactions.”
Some challenges remain. Banks face integration costs, operational risks, and regulatory questions around blockchain settlements. Legal experts point out that settlement is a legal process, not just a technical one. Blockchain confirmations need to align with legal finality rules before the system can scale globally.
Swift emphasized that its role focuses on infrastructure. Commercial and central banks will decide which types of tokens can be exchanged on the ledger. This approach lets Swift provide the rails while banks and regulators maintain control over what moves on those rails.
The Road Ahead
Swift’s blockchain partnership represents a major shift in how global finance could operate. If successful, the project could enable banks to move regulated digital assets at large scale while maintaining compliance and security standards.
The combination of Swift’s trusted infrastructure with Ethereum-based blockchain technology offers a middle ground between traditional finance and digital innovation. Banks get the speed and transparency of blockchain without abandoning the systems they already trust.