Global financial messaging network Swift has announced plans to enable central and commercial banks to conduct live trials of digital currency and asset transactions starting in 2025, marking a significant step towards integrating digital assets into the mainstream financial system.

Swift said the trials will demonstrate its capability to facilitate the movement of tokenised value across multiple blockchain networks and connect central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) globally through a single access point. Initial use cases will focus on payments, foreign exchange, securities and trade, enabling multi-ledger transactions.

The move comes as the digital asset landscape continues to evolve rapidly, with 134 countries currently exploring CBDCs and the tokenised asset market projected to reach $16 trillion by 2030. However, the growth of unconnected platforms has created what Swift describes as 'digital islands', posing a barrier to widespread adoption.

Tom Zschach, chief innovation officer at Swift, highlighted the importance of seamless integration between traditional and digital assets: "For digital assets and currencies to succeed on a global scale, it's critical that they can seamlessly coexist with traditional forms of money. With Swift's vast global reach we are uniquely positioned to bridge both emerging and established forms of value."

The cooperative, which connects more than 11,500 financial institutions across over 200 countries and territories, aims to leverage its existing infrastructure to enable its members to transact using both digital and traditional assets through their current systems.

Earlier this month, Swift joined Project Agorá, a Bank for International Settlements initiative exploring the integration of tokenised commercial bank deposits and wholesale CBDCs on a unified platform.

The trials represent a significant development in Swift's digital asset strategy, building on previous successful demonstrations of tokenised value transfers across various blockchain networks. By providing a unified window for accessing multiple digital asset classes and currencies, Swift aims to reduce fragmentation in the digital asset ecosystem while maintaining the security and reliability that underpins global financial flows.

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