- SWIFT pilots a blockchain trial on ConsenSys’s Linea network, involving over twelve major global financial institutions like BNP Paribas.
- A key focus is trialing a stablecoin-like token for payment finality, moving beyond proofs-of-concept to scalable interoperability solutions.
The global banking messaging system SWIFT has started a new test program using a blockchain called Linea. More than twelve major banks have joined this project, such as BNP Paribas and BNY Mellon. Their goal is to examine how well transactions work directly on a blockchain under banking rules.
🟥 Exclusive @TheBigWhale_
SWIFT chooses Linea for blockchain testing
According to information gathered with @BukovskiBuko3, SWIFT and several major global banks (including BNP Paribas and BNY) have chosen @LineaBuild, the Ethereum layer 2 developed by @Consensys, to experiment… pic.twitter.com/EaWLg1IfKp
— Grégory Raymond 🐳 (@gregory_raymond) September 26, 2025
Linea operates as a secondary network for Ethereum, built by the company ConsenSys. It uses a method called zero-knowledge rollups to handle many transactions quickly and with improved privacy. This pilot will determine if the system meets the strict legal requirements for international finance.
A important part of the trial will study the use of a new token for finalizing payments, which would act like a stablecoin. Tom Zschach, the Chief Innovation Officer at SWIFT, mentioned that banks are now past simply testing blockchain. He said the real task is to make these solutions work on a large scale and ensure they can connect with different types of digital money.
‘We are no longer in the experimental stage. The question is how to scale, regardless of whether the instrument is a tokenised deposit, a CBDC, a stablecoin or a tokenised fund. It’s about what exactly we are connecting and where the value appears,’ said Tom Zschach of SWIFT.
SWIFT’s decision to use Linea has led to questions about the future of XRP and its own ledger, the XRPL. Although XRP was not selected for this particular test, previous SWIFT experiments showed it could work well with other systems. The XRP Ledger confirms transactions in just a few seconds and follows a major global financial messaging standard.
Industry observers believe SWIFT will probably use multiple blockchains in the future instead of just one. This means networks like XRPL could still be used for specific tasks depending on cost and regulation. The largest barrier to using blockchain for settlements is not the technology itself, but the need for laws that recognize these digital transactions as legally complete.
