Standard Chartered and HSBC have completed the first live cross-border transaction using tokenized deposits on Swift’s blockchain-based ledger, marking a key step toward faster, 24/7 global payments.
The transaction demonstrates how regulated banks can issue, transfer and settle tokenized deposits across different financial systems. Swift’s ledger acted as an orchestration layer, matching and netting the payment obligations between the two banks before final settlement through existing systems.
The transaction builds on Swift’s July 2026 announcement that its blockchain-based ledger was ready for initial use. At the time, 17 banks across six continents said they planned to test live transactions using tokenized deposits.
For HSBC and Standard Chartered, the latest transaction shows that bank-issued digital money can work across different institutions while remaining within the existing regulated financial system.
HSBC’s Head of Digital Currencies Lewis Sun said the transaction shows the potential of tokenized deposits to help companies move liquidity across borders, improve cash visibility and reduce some of the complexity of traditional international payments.
Standard Chartered’s Head of Emerging Payments, Transaction Services and Digital Assets Mark Willis said tokenized deposits could play a growing role in helping corporate and institutional clients manage liquidity, improve working capital and make cross-border payments more efficient.
The transaction is part of a wider industry push to use blockchain and distributed ledger technology for real-world payments while keeping regulated bank money at the center of the financial system.
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