Morning Minute is a daily newsletter written by Tyler Warner. The analysis and opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Decrypt. Subscribe to the Morning Minute on Substack.
One by one the biggest TradFi players in the world are capitulating into crypto.
Last week it was Vanguard, and this week it’s Swift.
Yesterday, SWIFT said it will add a blockchain ledger to its infrastructure, starting with a conceptual prototype designed by Consensys.
The first use case is instant, always-on interbank cross-border payments.
SWIFT says the ledger will record, sequence and validate transactions and enforce rules via smart contracts, while interoperating with existing rails and emerging networks.
A coalition of 30+ institutions, including names like Bank of America, Citi and NatWest, is already shaping the build.
It’s not yet specified whether the prototype will anchor to Ethereum mainnet or Linea.
“I’m very pleased to announce that we will add a blockchain-based ledger to our technology infrastructure to allow for trusted movement of tokenised value across the digital ecosystems… In the regulated system of the future, we believe [Swift and blockchain] can [go together]. Banks are ready for it. And they’re asking us to play a bigger role.” – Javier Pérez-Tasso, SWIFT CEO
TradFi’s main payment rails are choosing to embed blockchain, effectively acknowledging the tech as a better solution.
If SWIFT can make tokenized-value payments instant and 24/7, and keep compliance, controls, and interoperability, their blockchain solution will become their de facto option with massive cost savings and impacts across financial institutions.
This is very bullish for broader crypto adoption.
The more banks standardize on shared ledgers, the easier it becomes to bridge fiat, stablecoins, and tokenized deposits across markets.
So stablecoins are a big winner, along with the tokenization effort for RWAs.
All of which gives crypto more validity across the U.S. and world.
And of course, it’s very bullish for their blockchain of choice (likely Ethereum or one of its L2s).
If Linea were to win this (Consensys’ blockchain), expect a major repricing. So be on the lookout for more news tied to this story.
And overall, more and more capitulation into crypto and blockchain is happening from the biggest tradfi players in the world. On a near weekly basis…
Here’s a rundown of major token, protocol and airdrop news from the day:
Section dedicated to headlines in the AI sector of crypto:
Here is the list of other notable headlines from the day in NFTs:
