SWIFT & Ethereum: It’s Complicated 🙄

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So, apparently the folks over at SWIFT – you know, the people who make sure your international money transfers don’t just…vanish – are playing with Ethereum. Like, building a *prototype*. Joe Lubin, the co-founder of Ethereum and generally a Very Important Person in the crypto world, told Bloomberg that ConsenSys (his company) is doing the heavy lifting. Which, honestly, is like asking Martha Stewart to decorate your minimalist apartment. It just feels…extra.

SWIFT Builds On Ethereum

The idea is to make international money moving faster. Shocker, right? They’re using ISO 20022, which sounds terrifyingly complex, but basically means they want everything to talk to everything else. Lubin also mentioned banks are cautiously poking around the “settlement layers.” You can just *feel* the excitement from the finance bros, can’t you? 😴

He didn’t want to say much about when this might actually *happen*. Apparently, timelines are “sensitive.” It’s the classic tech-company-speak for “we have no idea when we’ll finish.” I suspect the timeline is measured in dog years.

SWIFT is positioning this as a “shared ledger” that’s super fast and efficient and, crucially, “asset-agnostic.” Which basically means they don’t want to get stuck picking a favorite cryptocurrency. Smart move. It’s like dating – don’t commit too early!

Lubin also said things are changing. Traditionally, “TradFi” (traditional finance, for the uninitiated) and “DeFi” (decentralized finance, think weird crypto stuff) were separate worlds. Now? TradFi is sniffing around DeFi, realizing maybe, *just maybe*, they can learn a thing or two. It’s the financial equivalent of your dad discovering TikTok. 😳

What “Using Ethereum” Means In Practice

Turns out, this prototype is likely running on ConsenSys’ Linea, which is an Ethereum layer-2 network. Don’t ask. Just know it’s complicated and involves “zero-knowledge proofs,” which sounds like something out of a spy movie. They’re trying to be compliant, which is finance code for “not getting yelled at by regulators.”

This whole thing coincides with a lot of money flowing into stablecoins and banks experimenting with tokenization. Basically, the old ways are starting to feel…old. The goal is to improve the existing system, not obliterate it. Baby steps, people. Baby steps.

Beyond SWIFT: Lubin’s Treasury Thesis

Lubin also talked about companies hoarding Ether (the cryptocurrency used with Ethereum). He thinks it’s a good thing! It’s supposed to stabilize the price and, unlike Bitcoin, it can actually *earn* you money. He’s calling it a “Berkshire-style flywheel”. I’m pretty sure Warren Buffett doesn’t understand this, but go off, Lubin.

So, the bottom line is, if banks start using Ethereum, Ether might become a hot commodity. Groundbreaking. Still, I wouldn’t quit your day job just yet.

At press time, ETH traded at $4,484. (Please don’t take financial advice from a website that’s mostly sarcasm.)

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2025-10-09 07:35