Swift, UBS, and Chainlink test blockchain-based fund settlement

Swift, UBS Asset Management, and Chainlink (CRYPTO:LINK) have completed a pilot for tokenised fund settlement as part of the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) Project Guardian, aiming to streamline traditional finance with blockchain technology.  

Using Swift’s extensive financial messaging network, which connects over 11,500 institutions, the project integrates tokenised fund operations with existing fiat payment systems.  

Unlike other tokenisation pilots that rely solely on blockchain payments, this initiative facilitates transactions without requiring exclusive on-chain payment options, thereby advancing digital finance within established infrastructure.  

At the Swift Sibos conference on Oct. 23, Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov stated he was “very excited” about the “adoption of off-chain payment capabilities” and how these could “increase the flow of capital.”  

This integration addresses common inefficiencies in traditional fund transactions, such as delays and manual steps in subscriptions and redemptions, which often add operational costs and limit liquidity.  

Through Swift’s infrastructure, the pilot demonstrated real-time fund redemptions and subscriptions, enabling a more automated, transparent, and cost-effective process.  

UBS also recently launched a tokenised fund on the Ethereum blockchain, called the “UBS USD Money Market Investment Fund Token” or “uMINT,” in response to rising investor interest in tokenised financial assets.  

According to MAS, these efforts align with its vision to support tokenised asset commercialisation, with data from over 40 institutions contributing to this initiative.  

“No one has really succeeded in achieving scale. Many promising use cases have not yet gained industry-wide traction. Further, there is a need for supporting infrastructure to enable good use cases to scale beyond individual networks,” stated MAS deputy managing director Leong Sing Chiong, speaking at the inaugural MAS Layer One Summit.