Chainlink has unveiled a framework allowing financial institutions to connect their existing systems and transaction-signing infrastructure to Swift’s blockchain ledger without handing over control of their cryptographic keys.
The arrangement uses Chainlink Runtime Environment (CRE), which coordinates workflows between a bank’s internal systems and Swift’s shared ledger. Banks continue to sign their own transactions, while CRE manages the process of reading from and writing to the ledger.
Chainlink said on Sept. 28 that the model would allow institutions to keep their existing approval procedures, security controls and governance arrangements while accessing tokenized payment services. It also allows banks to manage smart-contract activity across their own tokenized-deposit ledgers and Swift’s blockchain infrastructure.
The deposits remain recorded on bank-owned systems. Swift’s ledger coordinates payment commitments between participating institutions before final settlement takes place through existing agreed mechanisms, including real-time gross settlement systems and correspondent banking arrangements.
Sergey Nazarov, CEO of Chainlink Labs, said the company was “thrilled to be supporting the Swift ledger” as banks explore tokenized deposits and connections between different ledger systems.
Chainlink did not say when individual banks would adopt CRE or identify which participants in Swift’s pilot programme would use the framework first.
The announcement extends several years of cooperation between Chainlink and Swift on institutional blockchain interoperability. Earlier projects examined how existing Swift infrastructure could work alongside blockchain networks, including trials involving tokenized assets and communication between separate chains.
Swift remains responsible for operating the new ledger. Its March implementation update said participating banks would run their own environments and retain control of their keys, assets and funding.
Tokenized deposits at the centre of Swift’s ledger
Swift’s system is designed to support 24/7 cross-border payments using tokenized commercial-bank deposits. The digital tokens represent deposits held on the balance sheets and ledgers of the issuing banks.
The shared ledger records and validates payment commitments, allowing transactions to progress overnight and at weekends while final movement of funds continues through established settlement networks. Swift has stressed that the system does not replace its role as a global financial messaging network.
The first version uses an Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible architecture based on Hyperledger Besu, an open-source enterprise blockchain platform. Swift coordinates interbank processes, including validation of funding commitments.
Swift said in July that 17 banks across six continents were preparing initial live transactions. They are ANZ, BNP Paribas, BNY, Citi, DBS, First Abu Dhabi Bank, FirstRand Bank, HSBC, Itau Unibanco, Lloyds Bank, Mashreq, MUFG Bank, OCBC, Standard Chartered, UBS, UOB and Wells Fargo.
The pilots will test overnight and weekend payments before final settlement through existing systems. HSBC plans to connect its Tokenised Deposit Service to the infrastructure, while Standard Chartered, UBS and UOB have described their involvement as focusing on tokenized payments, interoperability and round-the-clock money movement.
Swift said its wider network connects more than 11,500 financial institutions and corporates across more than 200 markets.
The ledger project was announced at Sibos in September 2025 and moved into MVP implementation by March 2026. Swift said more than 40 institutions helped develop it, following an initial project involving more than 30 financial institutions and Consensys.
Its controlled rollout is expected to expand beyond initial corporate and treasury payments to programmable corporate payment flows, payment-versus-payment foreign exchange and cash movements linked to securities transactions.
