The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) announced that it had successfully transferred central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and tokenized assets using existing financial systems.
SWIFT is a messaging system that connects over 11,500 financial institutions around the world and facilitates international transactions. It conducted two experiments, both of which were successful.
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In the first experiment, SWIFT successfully facilitated transactions using CBDCs through both a fiat-to-CBDC payment network and different distributed ledger technologies. As a result of the experiment, now 14 commercial banks are collaborating in a testing environment with the aim of full-scale deployment of CBDCs.
In the second experiment, SWIFT proved that its infrastructure could integrate tokenization platforms with cash payments.
SWIFT concluded that “CBDCs can be rapidly deployed at scale to facilitate trade and investment between more than 200 countries and territories around the world.”
“Digital currencies and tokens have huge potential to shape how we will pay and invest in the future,” said SWIFT’s chief innovation officer Tom Zschach. “But that potential can only be unleashed if the different approaches that are being explored have the ability to connect and work together. We see inclusivity and interoperability as central pillars of the financial ecosystem, and our innovation is a significant step towards unlocking the potential of the digital future.”
