Ripple has long made its ambitions of challenging and eventually replacing SWIFT as the backbone of global cross-border payments very clear. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has openly criticized SWIFT’s inefficiencies and noted how the company aims to capture a sizable 14% share of the multi-trillion-dollar payments market within the next five years.
However, although XRP’s utility in facilitating near-instant settlements has kept the XRP replacing SWIFT narrative alive for years, one expert argues that reality may be pointing in a different direction.
XRP Cannot Replace SWIFT
Ripple’s goal is to compete with SWIFT and capture a large portion of the $5 trillion worth of transactions that the network processes each day. However, according to Zach Rynes, who is a community liaison with Chainlink, the idea of XRP replacing SWIFT does not reflect what is actually happening behind the scenes. In a post on the social media platform X, Rynes highlighted that SWIFT is already integrating with blockchain technology through its partnership with Chainlink.
Reports indicate that SWIFT currently uses Chainlink’s infrastructure to connect more than 11,500 SWIFT member banks to both public and private blockchains. This level of integration not only modernizes SWIFT’s existing network but also allows it to interact with tokenized assets and smart contract platforms without abandoning its established global banking relationships.
Proponents like Zack Ryne also argue that it places SWIFT on par with Ripple’s blockchain advances, and it effectively removes any advantage that the latter has. As such, the competition for dominance in global payments may not be a case of Ripple replacing SWIFT completely, but if SWIFT can catch up through partners like Chainlink and perhaps make its utility coin LINK a better institutional cryptocurrency.
SWIFT’s Partnership With Chainlink
SWIFT’s relationship with Chainlink kicked off in 2016, when Chainlink (known as SmartContract.com at the time) participated in and won SWIFT’s startup competition. However, their partnership has really gained speed in recent years. In September 2022, SWIFT and Chainlink publicly introduced an initial proof‑of‑concept using Chainlink’s Cross‑Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) during the SmartCon 2022 event.
In August 2023, SWIFT conducted a successful proof-of-concept test (with institutions like ANZ, BNP Paribas, BNY Mellon, and Citi) using Chainlink’s Cross‑Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP). That pilot has grown into real-world use cases with thousands of SWIFT member banks worldwide.
Interestingly, recent advancements with Chainlink have also seen more activity from big investors with LINK and heavy accumulations from whale traders. At the time of writing, LINK is trading at $21.40, trading above $20 for the first time since February.
Ripple, on the other hand, has also expanded its partnership in its quest to compete with SWIFT. This partnership includes the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan, who are reviewing Ripple’s infrastructure alongside SWIFT.
Featured image from iStock, chart from Tradingview.com
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