SWIFT Is Testing New Blockchain Pilot Project In Collaboration With Symbiont Inc
- SWIFT, the leading carrier of secure financial messages, has confirmed that it is testing blockchain technology. It is crucial to note that a wider application of the test might expose a large consumer base to the blockchain technology.
- According to a report, SWIFT has collaborated with fintech company Symbiont Inc. and will be testing the new blockchain technology. Previously, the financial messaging system had worked on CBDCs.
The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), a renowned messaging network that financial institutions use for safe transmission of information and instructions, is reportedly using Blockchain technology in its pilot project.
According to a recent report by Bloomberg, the financial messaging company is working with fintech company Symbiont Inc to drive efficiencies in the transmission of corporate events-related information like dividend payments and mergers data.
Moreover, the report claims that investment banking and management companies Citigroup, Northern Trust, and Vanguard.
Tom Zschach, the Chief Innovation Officer at SWIFT, commented on the use of blockchain and its partnership:
“By bringing Symbiont’s Assembly and smart contracts together with SWIFT’s extensive network, we’re able to automatically harmonize data from multiple sources of a corporate action event.”
According to the report, the pilot program will primarily focus on data tracking and transparency to identify any discrepancies.
The pilot is currently in the development phase, and in September it will be tested and provided feedback by a select group of participants. If it is a success, SWIFT will expand it to include more corporate events and consider making it available to the broader SWIFT community.
Notably, SWIFT revealed ambitions to enter the asset tokenization market in December last year. According to the company’s estimates, this industry would grow to more than $24 trillion by 2027. Banks and securities companies are adapting to the most recent trend as the tokenization of illiquid assets such as bonds, stocks, commodities, and real estate is becoming more and more popular. SWIFT wants to use fractionalization to increase accessibility and liquidity.
The financial messaging system announced in May that it was collaborating on CBDC interoperability with the French IT services and consulting firm Capgemini. The project’s goal is to use digital currency to facilitate “frictionless” global trade. SWIFT sought to address three use cases through this pilot project: CBDC to CBDC, fiat to CBDC, and CBDC to fiat. Additionally, the company is also studying the interoperability between digital agencies and currencies.
The report stated:
“SWIFT plans a series of experiments in Q1 2022 leveraging its trusted role as a central platform to explore the issuance, delivery versus payment (DVP) and redemption processes to support a frictionless and seamless tokenized asset market.”
Notably, Belgium-headquartered SWIFT is a member-owned cooperative that offers inter-bank money transfers both domestically and internationally. It connects more than 11,000 banking and securities institutions, market infrastructures, and corporate clients in more than 200 nations and territories.
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
