SWIFT, the global financial messaging backbone, has begun testing on-chain payments and messaging using Ethereum’s Layer 2 network Linea, in a move that signals deeper integration between traditional finance and blockchain.
According to According to the report, the project involves more than a dozen global banks, including BNP Paribas and BNY Mellon, and explores the use of a stablecoin-like token for settlement.
This trial marks an important milestone for SWIFT, which connects more than 11,000 financial institutions and processes billions of messages each year.
Traditionally, SWIFT operated as a secure messaging service that transmitted payment instructions between banks.
Initial testing aims to focus on on-chain messaging and settlement functions, with the interbank stablecoin token serving as a model for how financial institutions could settle transactions directly on blockchain infrastructure.
SWIFT emphasized that this effort goes beyond the transmission of digital money transfers, expanding its role to global on-chain activities.
The blockchain experiment seeks to extend this role to the direct transfer of value, potentially reducing reliance on multiple intermediaries and streamlining international settlements.
Linea was notably selected for its zk-rollup technology, which enables low-cost, high-throughput transactions while maintaining the security of Ethereum. Its design also emphasizes data privacy through advanced cryptographic proofs, a feature considered essential for banks facing strict compliance requirements.
The experiment could take several months to come to fruition, but industry players believe it represents a major technological advance for the interbank sector.
A banking source described it as a “significant transformation” for international payments, which today remain dependent on intermediaries and cumbersome existing infrastructure.
The collaboration with Linea also builds on SWIFT’s previous experiences in blockchain interoperability. In recent years, the network in partnership with Chainlink to test cross-chain communication solutions.
In August 2023, SWIFT published the results of a series of trials examining how tokenized value can be transferred between public and private blockchains.
At the time, the organization said the findings could help alleviate obstacles that have slowed the expansion of tokenized asset markets, creating the conditions for them to scale more effectively globally as they continue to mature.
For Ethereum, the project reinforces its central role in financial experimentation.
