The global financial payment system is undergoing a profound transformation. In September 2025, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) officially announced an ambitious plan: to build a blockchain-based shared ledger network to achieve truly real-time, 24/7 uninterrupted cross-border payments. This is not a destructive disruption, but a systematic upgrade — the central nervous system of TradFi is connecting to the neurons of Blockchain.

**Strategic Positioning: Connecting Rather Than Replacing**

SWIFT's approach is very clear. It does not intend to overthrow the existing system that has been in operation for decades, but rather to build a parallel and more efficient channel. The new network will automatically execute transactions through smart contracts, serving as a core hub between traditional bank accounts and various blockchain networks (stablecoins, CBDCs, etc.). In other words, what it aims to solve is the problem of fragmentation in digital finance — truly "connecting" different ecosystems.

**The lineup of participants is strong**

This project is not just talk. More than 30 major banks worldwide have participated in the design, including giants like Citibank, HSBC, and JPMorgan Chase. The technology partner has chosen the core strength of the Ethereum ecosystem, Consensys. Such a configuration ensures that the project has both the trust foundation of the financial system and the hard power on the technical level.

**Progress Timeline**

The project's progress speed far exceeds expectations:
• In November 2025, completed a pilot project for mixed settlement of fiat and digital currencies with Citibank.
• In December 2025, verified the cross-border real-time transfers of tokenized deposits with Ant International and HSBC.

Every step of the experiment is validating a hypothesis - Blockchain can indeed reshape trillion-dollar capital flows. SWIFT is leveraging its global network trust advantage to activate the programmable efficiency of Blockchain, and the imaginative space of this combination is significant.

In 2026, opportunities in the Ethereum ecosystem are brewing. Getting in early might not be a bad idea.