Standard Chartered, HSBC Complete First Interbank Transaction on Swift's Blockchain Ledger

Standard Chartered and HSBC have completed the first live interbank transaction on Swift's blockchain-based ledger, the banks said in a joint Wednesday release.

The cross-border payment showed that tokenized deposits from two regulated banks can interoperate through Swift's new infrastructure. HSBC used its Tokenised Deposit Service (TDS); Standard Chartered routed through its own tokenized-deposit platform. Swift's ledger matched and netted the obligations between the two banks before final settlement hit existing payment systems, per the release.

Lewis Sun, HSBC's head of digital currencies, said in the release that the transaction demonstrates how bank-issued digital money can work across institutions without sacrificing regulatory controls. "For corporates, this is about solving real-world challenges, such as moving liquidity around the world, across financial institutions, increasing cash visibility and reducing the complexities sometimes associated with traditional cross-border transactions," Sun said.

Mark Willis, Standard Chartered's head of emerging payments, transaction services and digital assets, called tokenized deposits a "key part" of the bank's digital asset strategy. "As institutional demand grows for faster, more efficient ways to move liquidity and optimize working capital increase, interoperable tokenized deposits will play an increasingly important role in helping corporate and institutional clients manage treasury, unlock operational efficiencies and support real time liquidity management across markets," Willis said.

Swift announced in July that its blockchain-based ledger was ready for live use, with 17 banks preparing pilot transactions. Thierry Chilosi, Swift's chief business officer, said at the time: "With our new ledger capability, we're extending the trust and stability of established finance into the frontiers of digital money."

The transaction comes as tokenized deposits remain a niche product in a market where stablecoins and central bank digital currencies have drawn more attention from policymakers and crypto firms. Swift's existing network connects over 11,000 institutions, giving the ledger a distribution advantage over newer blockchain networks that lack equivalent integration with legacy banking rails.

Apollo Global Management was hit by a social engineering attack and data breach, the firm disclosed separately. The incident did not affect the Swift transaction.