HSBC and Standard Chartered have executed the first live tokenized deposit transaction on SWIFT’s blockchain-based ledger. The transaction occurred six weeks after the network opened to an initial group of 17 banks.
During the transaction, payment messages moved between HSBC’s Tokenized Deposit Service and Standard Chartered’s tokenized deposit infrastructure. The resulting obligations were recorded on both institutions' systems, while SWIFT’s ledger functioned as an orchestration layer to match and net the obligations prior to final settlement through existing payment rails.
Lewis Sun, Head of Digital Currencies at HSBC, described the transaction as a landmark moment for tokenized deposits. Mark Willis, Head of Emerging Payments, Transaction Services and Digital Assets at Standard Chartered, stated that tokenized deposits form a key pillar of the bank's digital assets strategy.
The SWIFT ledger minimum viable product is built on open-source foundations using an Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible architecture based on Hyperledger Besu. SWIFT operates the ledger, managing transaction workflows, funding commitment validation, and interbank process coordination. The conceptual prototype was built by Consensys following the project's announcement in September 2025.
Seventeen banks across six continents are preparing to pilot live transactions on the network, including ANZ, BNP Paribas, BNY, Citi, DBS, MUFG, UBS, and Wells Fargo.
