IBM taps Swift's 17-bank blockchain, lets banks keep assets in-house

IBM has connected its Digital Asset Haven platform to Swift's blockchain-based shared ledger. Seventeen global banks, including BNY, Citi, HSBC, UBS, and Wells Fargo, are using the ledger to pilot tokenized deposit transactions.

The tech giant announced two beta updates to the platform on Sept. 24, both aimed at regulated financial institutions.

"The financial services industry is entering a new era where tokenized and traditional assets will need to move side by side," Tom McPherson, IBM's general manager for Z and LinuxONE, told The Block.

Related: Trump's stock accounts quietly loaded up on Strategy and Tesla, filing shows

Familiar payment messages

The first update, an ISO 20022 Messaging Adapter, lets banks instruct tokenized transactions in the message format they already use for payments, rather than through blockchain-specific workflows.

Participants can move funds around the clock, including weekends, while final settlement runs through current systems.

Swift unveiled the ledger at Sibos 2025, built on a Consensys prototype, and declared it ready for use in July after nine months of development. The pilot group also includes ANZ, BNP Paribas, DBS, MUFG, Standard Chartered and Lloyds

More on TheStreet Roundtable

100 Coinbase users lose millions to fake support calls

Bloomberg analyst sends 2008 WTI oil warning on Bitcoin

100 Coinbase users lose millions to fake support calls

No public cloud needed

The second update is an on-premises version that runs entirely on a client's own IBM Z or LinuxONE hardware.

Software and cryptographic keys stay in-house, secured by Crypto Express hardware security modules. According to IBM, formal key ceremonies produce documentation that clients can present to regulators.

Digital Asset Haven launched in October 2025 in partnership with wallet infrastructure provider Dfns. It was previously offered only as a cloud service or in a hybrid setup.

The move comes as lenders race to overhaul their payment rails. J.P. Morgan Payments research found that 93% of financial institutions are modernizing their payments infrastructure.

IBM shares were up about 2.5% at $237.19 on Sept. 25, after slipping 0.4% in premarket trading the day of the announcement.