SWIFT plans to launch a new CBDC platform within 12-24 months to connect existing financial systems

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) plans to build a new platform over the next one to two years to connect the central bank digital currency (CBDC) currently under development to the existing financial system. This move will likely be fine-tuned as the first major CBDCs are launched. Nick Kerigan, SWIFT’s head of innovation, said its latest pilot, which spanned six months and involved 38 central banks, commercial banks and settlement platforms, was one of the largest global collaborations to date on CBDCs and “tokenized” assets. The plan focuses on ensuring that CBDCs from different countries can be used together, even if built on different underlying technologies or “protocols”, thereby reducing the risk of fragmentation of payment systems. It also suggests that CBDC could be used for highly complex trade or foreign exchange payments and could potentially be automated, speeding up the process and reducing costs. (Reuters)