HSBC and Standard Chartered Pave Way for Tokenized Deposits on SWIFT's Blockchain Ledger

HSBC and Standard Chartered have successfully executed the first live tokenized deposit transaction on SWIFT's blockchain-based ledger. The transaction was completed six weeks after the network opened to an initial cohort of 17 banks.

The payment messages moved between HSBC's Tokenized Deposit Service (TDS) and Standard Chartered's own tokenized deposit infrastructure, with the resulting obligations recorded on both banks' systems. SWIFT's ledger worked as an orchestration layer, matching and netting the obligations between the two institutions before final settlement ran through existing payment rails.

HSBC's Head of Digital Currencies, Lewis Sun, said that 'HSBC's interoperability transaction with Standard Chartered via SWIFT is a landmark moment for the promise of tokenized deposits.'

The ledger runs on Hyperledger Besu and is designed to integrate with the broader digital asset ecosystem. Seventeen banks from six continents are preparing to pilot live transactions.