Chainlink and Swift Launch Pilot to Bring Banks Onchain

Blockchain oracle provider Chainlink has unveiled one of the first products from its pilot with UBS Asset Management and Swift, the global financial messaging network, aimed at allowing banks to trigger onchain transactions using their existing infrastructure. According to a Tuesday announcement, Chainlink has integrated its execution layer, known as the Chainlink Runtime Environment (CRE), with Swift messaging. This integration means banks worldwide can now use existing Swift rails to connect to blockchain networks without building new systems from scratch. Pilot Builds on Project Guardian The launch expands on Project Guardian, a 2024 pilot run by Chainlink, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and UBS Tokenize, the in-house tokenization unit of UBS Asset Management. The project demonstrated how tokenized fund workflows could integrate with existing fiat payment systems, a key step in bridging traditional finance with blockchain-based assets. Under the pilot, the companies used Swift’s ISO 20022 messages to carry out fund subscriptions and redemptions directly onchain. Traditionally, these processes run through a network of custodians, transfer agents, fund administrators, and other intermediaries, each adding time and reconciliation steps. “This interoperability unlock enables last-mile connectivity options already familiar and used by financial institutions and service providers today,” Chainlink said. Why It Matters for the Financial Industry According to a McKinsey report, global assets under management reached $147 trillion in June 2025, underscoring the scale of opportunity for tokenized finance. Swift, founded in the 1970s as a Belgium-based cooperative owned by its member banks, operates the global messaging network that underpins cross-border payments. By connecting Chainlink’s infrastructure to Swift, financial institutions can tap tokenization and blockchain settlement without overhauling their existing systems. Swift’s Evolution in Blockchain Swift has been working with Chainlink since 2023, running tests to show how its infrastructure could offer banks a single access point to multiple blockchains. In September 2024, Swift joined the Bank for International Settlements and 41 private financial firms in Project Agorá, an initiative exploring how tokenized commercial bank deposits could work alongside wholesale central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) on a shared platform. Earlier in 2024, the cooperative unveiled plans for a blockchain-based “state machine” to track transactions and balances across institutions using ISO 20022 messaging. This system was designed to run either on blockchain or on Swift’s centralized Transaction Manager platform. Partnerships Extend Beyond Chainlink Swift is also collaborating with Ethereum ecosystem developer Consensys and more than 30 institutions to build a blockchain settlement system designed for round-the-clock, real-time cross-border payments. If successful, these initiatives could position Swift at the center of tokenized finance while maintaining its dominance in traditional messaging infrastructure. Chainlink, meanwhile, is staking a claim as a key enabler of interoperability between old and new financial systems.