Key players include Swift (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication), which leads development, and over 40 financial institutions involved in design, such as JP Morgan Chase, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, and Bank of America.[5][7] Jonathan Ehrenfeld, Swift's ledger strategy lead, emphasized delivering optimal cross-border payments regardless of value form.[3] No specific legislation or agencies are mentioned, though the system reuses banks' existing compliance processes.[1][3]
The project originated at Swift's Sibos conference in September 2025, when a group of about 30 banks began collaboration, expanding to over 40 by the design completion on March 30, 2026.[3][5][7] Swift worked internationally with banks to define the roadmap, running parallel to initiatives like a new retail payments framework adopted by over 25 banks by June 2026.[3]
This is newsworthy as it shifts from planning to active construction, with live real-world transactions planned for 2026, addressing longstanding cross-border inefficiencies like slow reconciliation and limited hours via tokenized deposits and blockchain—potentially accelerating digital finance adoption without disrupting legacy systems.[1][2][6]