SWIFT's Blockchain Ledger Goes Live: 17 Banks to Pilot 24/7 Tokenized Cross-Border Payments

On Wednesday, July 9, 2026, SWIFT announced that its blockchain-based shared ledger is ready for initial use, with 17 major banks from six continents preparing to pilot live cross-border transactions using tokenised deposits ^SL. The announcement, made via a press release from Brussels, was reported widely by outlets including CNA, Business Standard, and the Las Vegas Sun ^CSL.

How the Ledger Enables 24/7 Transactions While Maintaining Compliance

The shared ledger functions as a secure orchestration layer that connects participating banks' own tokenised deposit ledgers ^S. This architecture allows banks to move funds for customers outside traditional banking hours — including overnight and on weekends — before completing final settlement through existing payment systems ^S. Crucially, banks retain their full compliance, credit, risk, and control standards embedded in existing payment processing; the ledger does not bypass those safeguards ^S. The model is designed to improve global liquidity efficiency and client experience without compromising regulatory or security requirements ^S.

Speed from Concept to Activation

SWIFT moved from the initial announcement to operational readiness in approximately nine months. The ledger was first announced in September 2025, and SWIFT designed and built the system with feedback from international financial institutions over that period ^SB. The design phase was completed by March 30, 2026, at which point SWIFT confirmed it was moving to MVP (minimum viable product) construction, with live transactions planned before the end of 2026 ^C. The July 9 announcement marks that the ledger is now ready for the controlled go-live pilot phase ^S. It is being built on open-source foundations using an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible architecture based on Hyperledger Besu ^S.

Which Banks Are Participating? (Full List of 17)

The following banks are preparing to pilot live transactions on the ledger, as confirmed by SWIFT's press release and reporting ^SBC:

#	Bank	Continent / Region
1	ANZ	Australia / Oceania
2	BNP Paribas	Europe
3	BNY	North America
4	Citi	North America
5	DBS	Asia
6	First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB)	Middle East / Asia
7	FirstRand Bank Limited	Africa
8	HSBC	Europe / Global
9	Itaú Unibanco	South America
10	Lloyds Bank	Europe
11	Mashreq	Middle East / Asia
12	MUFG Bank	Asia
13	OCBC	Asia
14	Standard Chartered	Europe / Global
15	UBS	Europe
16	UOB	Asia
17	Wells Fargo	North America

What Executives Are Saying About Benefits and Future Potential

Thierry Chilosi, Chief Business Officer at SWIFT, said the ledger extends "the trust and stability of established finance into the frontiers of digital money," enabling tokenised value to move across borders "with the velocity and flexibility modern commerce expects" while maintaining the same high levels of resiliency, security, and compliance. He highlighted that the strong bank support "shows the practical value of this approach" and that the ledger creates "a foundation for future innovation in areas like programmable money and agentic commerce" ^S.

Lisa Vasic, Managing Director Transaction Banking at ANZ, said SWIFT's digital ledger initiative is "an important step in advancing real-time, always-on cross-border payment capabilities" with strong potential to help customers move funds in real-time and manage liquidity more flexibly ^S.

Pierre Fersztand, Global Head of Cash Management, Payments, Trade Solutions and Factoring at BNP Paribas, called it "a significant milestone in the evolution of cross-border payments" and reaffirmed BNP Paribas' commitment to "industrialising digital finance at scale" to deliver measurable value to corporate clients through faster, more transparent, and more secure transactions ^S.

Debopama Sen, Head of Payments, Services at Citi, said the launch represents "an important step towards enabling always-on payments and liquidity" and that leveraging SWIFT's innovative blockchain-based messaging infrastructure allows Citi to "create interoperable payment solutions" with greater speed, resilience, and security ^S.

Lim Soon Chong, Group Head of Global Transaction Services at DBS, noted that blockchain-based ledgers and tokenised money enable banks to deliver "greater speed, transparency and real-time liquidity." He emphasized that "interoperability with existing payment rails and application in real world use cases will be critical for these capabilities to scale" ^S.