Chainlink has introduced a framework designed to let financial institutions connect to Swift’s blockchain ledger without handing over the keys used to authorize transactions. The setup uses Chainlink’s CRE as a workflow layer between a bank’s own systems and Swift’s ledger, while each institution continues to sign its own transactions.
Swift said 17 banks across six continents are preparing initial live pilots based on tokenized deposits. The tests are intended to support payment activity outside normal banking hours, including overnight and weekend workflows, while final settlement continues through existing systems.
How the connection model works
The arrangement is built around what Chainlink describes as a self-signing model. Under that approach, banks retain control of their transaction-signing keys rather than transferring authorization to an external network or intermediary.
Chainlink’s CRE coordinates the process of reading from and writing to Swift’s ledger, but it does not take custody of those authorization keys. That structure is meant to allow institutions to adopt tokenized payment services while keeping their existing approval processes, security controls and operating models in place.
In practice, CRE sits between a bank’s infrastructure and Swift’s ledger as the coordination layer. Banks can use it to manage smart-contract activity that spans their own tokenized-deposit ledgers and Swift’s blockchain-based system.
Tokenized deposits and Swift’s ledger design
Swift’s ledger is aimed at round-the-clock cross-border payment activity using tokenized commercial-bank deposits. In this model, the tokens represent deposits that remain on the issuing bank’s balance sheet and on that bank’s own ledger.
The shared ledger is used to record and validate payment commitments between institutions. That allows payment orchestration to continue beyond standard operating hours, but it does not shift final settlement away from traditional rails. According to Swift, the actual movement of funds still happens through established settlement systems.
The system also does not replace Swift’s existing role as a global financial messaging network. Instead, it adds a blockchain-based layer for coordinating payment commitments before settlement is completed elsewhere.
Seventeen banks prepare live pilots
Swift said 17 banks are getting ready for initial live pilots on the ledger. The institutions named are ANZ, BNP Paribas, BNY, Citi, DBS, First Abu Dhabi Bank, FirstRand Bank, HSBC, Itaú Unibanco, Lloyds Bank, Mashreq, MUFG Bank, OCBC, Standard Chartered, UBS, UOB and Wells Fargo.
The pilot phase is expected to test tokenized-deposit payment flows that can operate overnight and on weekends. Swift said the banks are spread across six continents, making the trials a broad test of how the model could work across time zones and jurisdictions.
Swift also highlighted the scale of its current network, which it said links more than 11,500 institutions and corporates in over 200 markets. The company said that network moves an amount roughly equivalent to world GDP every two to three days.
What comes next
The new framework builds on earlier work between Chainlink and Swift around institutional blockchain interoperability, including projects involving tokenized deposits and cross-chain communication.
After the controlled rollout, Swift plans to broaden use of the ledger. Areas identified for potential expansion include programmable corporate payment flows, payment-versus-payment foreign exchange processes, and cash movements connected to securities transactions.
For now, the next confirmed step is the initial live pilot stage with the 17 banks, where the focus will be on testing around-the-clock payment workflows while keeping final settlement on existing infrastructure.
Source: crypto.news