SWIFT Initiates Blockchain Pilot on Linea Platform

SWIFT selects Linea for blockchain pilot in interbank messaging.

SWIFT has selected the L2 network Linea from ConsenSys for a pilot project aimed at transitioning interbank messaging and communications to blockchain. This was reported by The Big Whale.

A source from the publication noted that the selection followed several months of negotiations to ensure the L2 solution could replace SWIFT’s existing centralized infrastructure.

More than a dozen banks, including BNP Paribas and BNY Mellon, will participate in the experiment. In addition to testing the new messaging system, the partners plan to explore the integration of stablecoins.

“The project will take several months before it becomes widely known, but it promises significant technological transformation for the international interbank payments industry,” said a representative from one of the institutions.

According to The Big Whale, SWIFT is also developing an “interbank token.”

The publication believes that the consortium’s interest in blockchain is driven by the technology’s potential to offer greater speed, transparency, and programmability in payment processing. The choice of Linea is linked to the network’s focus on transaction privacy.

“At this stage, it is a research pilot project, but it is already mobilizing a small circle of leading financial institutions that see it as an opportunity to prepare for a potential transformation of the global payment infrastructure,” they emphasized.

Back in 2024, SWIFT announced the testing of transactions with digital assets.