Swift is piloting a blockchain-based messaging system with Consensys’ Ethereum layer-2 Linea

Swift, the payments network that keeps global banking running, is dipping its toes into blockchain. The company is testing whether its core messaging system, the mechanism that allows more than 11,000 banks to securely talk to each other, could one day run on-chain.

The experiment, reported by Grégory Raymond of The Big Whale on X, brings heavyweight partners to the table. BNP Paribas, BNY Mellon and several global banks are already involved. 

For now, it’s still early days as the pilot will reportedly take months before results surface. But one banker close to the project described it as “an important technological transformation for the international interbank payments industry.”

Why is Swift considering Linea?

Swift’s current system is well-trusted but also criticized by those who claim that it’s expensive, often slow, and heavily reliant on intermediaries.  In an era where money and assets are going digital, that centralization is starting to look like a weakness. 

The fast settlement that’s seen in decentralized transactions has led to people calling for increased usage of blockchain technology.

Enter Linea, an Ethereum layer-2 network built by Consensys, the same team behind MetaMask. The appeal lies in its ability to keep data private through advanced cryptography, a must-have for institutions bound by strict regulations.

The choice also ties in with Swift’s long-term digital asset push. Last year, it announced trials for central bank digital currencies and tokenized assets. Now, by bringing Linea into the mix, Swift seems willing to test whether blockchain can overhaul its very core: the messaging rails themselves.

Why banks are paying attention

For big names like BNP Paribas and BNY Mellon, this is more than tinkering with new tech. If blockchain-based messaging works, it could merge communications and settlement into a single, seamless layer. That means lower costs and fewer delays.

It also helps them keep pace with challengers like Ripple, which has long argued its blockchain system can outdo Swift’s legacy model. 

But change won’t be easy. Integrating blockchain into existing systems will require time, investment and regulatory patience. 

Questions remain around how such a system would perform at the scale Swift operates, and whether regulators across the US, EU and Asia would be comfortable with it.

Swift has always moved carefully. Over the past few years, it has tested APIs, dabbled with AI to fight fraud, and explored tokenized asset transfers. Partnering with Linea fits this pattern: try a controlled, private environment before scaling anything to the public.

If the pilot succeeds, it could become one of the largest real-world blockchain deployments yet. It would also send a strong signal to the rest of the financial industry that blockchain isn’t just for niche use cases anymore — it’s ready to power the systems that move trillions of dollars every day.

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