SWIFT has announced it will add a blockchain-based ledger to its infrastructure stack. Built with Consensys, the new ledger will connect banks, tokenized deposits, and digital asset platforms directly to the world’s largest payments network.

This project isn’t a small pilot for SWIFT but a structural shift in its business, touching $150 trillion in annual cross-border transactions. It sets up a collision between bank-grade settlement infrastructure and the open rails that define the crypto industry and will force the market to deal with changes in liquidity when the world’s biggest payments network rewires its plumbing.

For decades, SWIFT has operated as the neutral layer moving trillions through secure messages between banks. Its new ledger, developed with Consensys, is not a standalone chain but an interoperability tool designed to stitch together digital asset platforms, tokenized deposits, and central bank digital currencies with existing fiat rails.

By embedding this directly into its stack, SWIFT will position itself as the connector of fragmented systems rather than the operator of a public blockchain. This choice matters because it means global banks won’t need to build custom integrations with each stablecoin or RWA platform; they can plug into SWIFT’s ledger instead.

Effect on Bitcoin and crypto

For crypto, the obvious question is whether this helps or hurts liquidity.

Stablecoin issuers have been the de facto backbone of dollar settlement in crypto, moving billions across exchanges and wallets. If banks gain a SWIFT-native way to issue tokenized deposits or handle on-chain settlement, the incentive to use USDC corridors could shift. Fees that once flowed through exchanges and stablecoin issuers might be redirected into bank channels, tightening margins on existing players.

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Author: Andjela Radmilac