Global financial messaging giant Swift, in collaboration with blockchain oracle network Chainlink, has successfully completed a major interoperability trial for tokenized assets, marking a significant step in bridging traditional finance with blockchain technology. The trials, which focused on tokenized bonds, involved major European banks BNP Paribas Securities Services, Intesa Sanpaolo, and Société Générale FORGE.
The initiative demonstrated how Swift can coordinate and settle tokenized bond transactions across multiple blockchain networks while maintaining compatibility with existing enterprise financial systems. This builds upon prior collaborative work with UBS Asset Management and earlier tests involving over 12 global financial institutions, including Citi, BNY Mellon, Euroclear, Clearstream, ANZ, and Lloyds Banking Group.
A core technical achievement was the use of Chainlink's Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) to enable secure distribution of asset data and facilitate cross-chain transfers. Furthermore, the trial introduced a sophisticated system for standardizing corporate actions data. AI models were used to extract information from corporate disclosures, which was then validated by designated data attestors and contributors, achieving nearly 100% accuracy. This validated data was transformed into ISO 20022-compliant messages via the Chainlink Runtime Environment for Swift and simultaneously distributed on-chain via CCIP, creating a real-time "golden record" accessible to smart contracts and traditional systems alike.
"Our work shows tokenized assets can be transferred across blockchains and traditional systems securely," said Michael McDonough of Swift. Sergey Nazarov, co-founder of Chainlink, added, "This framework allows financial institutions to adopt blockchain seamlessly."
In a parallel development for identity and compliance, Chainlink partnered with the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) to integrate verifiable Legal Entity Identifiers (vLEIs) into the blockchain infrastructure. This enables automated compliance checks and verification of asset provenance across jurisdictions, a critical requirement for institutional adoption.
The milestone provides a scalable infrastructure that reduces friction between legacy and blockchain-based systems, offering financial institutions a path to adopt digital assets without overhauling their current operational standards. The framework is now positioned to support tokenized bonds, funds, and other assets across both public and private blockchain networks.
