Chainlink helps financial institutions connect to the Swift blockchain ledger
Miami, September 28, 2026 / PRNewswire / -- Today, we announce our commitment to enabling financial institutions to connect their systems and critical signature infrastructure to the blockchain ledger of Swift through the Chainlink platform.
This solution enables banks to more conveniently access the Swift ledger, as well as manage their tokenized deposit smart contracts on their own ledgers and the use of smart contracts on the Swift ledger. At the core of this solution is a self-signing model provided by Chainlink Runtime Environment ( CRE ) for financial institutions. Institutions retain control over the keys used to authorize transactions, while CRE is responsible for orchestrating the workflows that connect financial institutions to the Swift ledger. Chainlink indicates that this allows banks to adopt a 24/7 tokenized payment workflow, while maintaining their existing security governance, approval processes, and operational models.
Financial institutions will be able to use CRE to seamlessly connect to the Swift ledger. This ledger is a digital platform used to orchestrate 24/7 cross-border payments based on tokenized deposits. These deposits are held on the banks' own ledgers and facilitate the secure coordination of fund flows between participating institutions, including during overnight and weekend periods.
Swift Ledger supports global tokenized payments
The Swift ledger provides a secure orchestration layer for 24/7 cross-border payments based on tokenized deposits, while these tokenized deposits remain on the banks' balance sheets, thus preserving the advantages of commercial bank money. The tokenized deposits issued by banks are still kept on their respective banks' ledgers, whereas the Swift ledger securely coordinates the flow of funds between participating institutions, including overnights and weekends.
This arrangement occurs before the final settlement. The Swift ledger will not change the role of Swift as a global financial messaging network, and the final settlement will still be completed through agreed mechanisms, such as real-time full settlement systems. Therefore, banks can extend the availability time of payments without replacing the existing settlement arrangements.
Chainlink Labs CEO Sergey Nazarov stated: "I am very excited about the Swift ledger and its significance for tokenized deposits, as well as I am looking forward to the next steps in global payments development. As more and more banks seek to join the Swift ledger and need technical partners to help them launch tokenized deposit capabilities and properly connect to the Swift ledger to fully benefit from its vast user network, we are delighted to be able to provide support for the Swift ledger."
Swift announced its blockchain-based shared ledger at the Sibos conference in 2025. This ledger was designed in collaboration with over 40 financial institutions worldwide and was implemented from a conceptual stage to actual use within just 9 months. Seventeen of the first batch of participating financial institutions are utilizing this ledger for various application scenarios through pilot tokenized deposit transactions. Swift connects more than 11,500 financial institutions and enterprises across over 200 markets.
About Chainlink
Chainlink represents the industry standard for blockchain financial platforms, committed to bringing the capital market onto the blockchain, and is also a market leader that provides support for the majority of DeFi. The Chainlink technology stack offers the key data, interoperability, compliance, and privacy standards required for advanced blockchain applications such as institutional tokenization of assets, lending, payments, and stablecoins. Since the invention of decentralized oracles, Chainlink claims to have supported trillions of dollars in transaction value and currently ensures the vast majority of activities within DeFi.
Chainlink also indicates that many of the world's largest financial service institutions have adopted its standards and infrastructure. Chainlink adopts a new fee model that converts off-chain and on-chain revenues generated by enterprise adoption into LINK tokens, which are then deposited into strategic Chainlink reserves. For more information, please visit chain.link.
