SWIFT’s New Trick: Will XRP Be Left Behind? 😲

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A Shifting of Sands

The Promise of Swiftness (and Transparency?)

They speak of an ‘open network,’ a flutter of wings attempting instant flight across borders, and, most astonishingly, ‘no hidden fees.’ As if such a thing were even conceivable in the world of finance! One might suspect a benevolent fairy godmother is involved, or perhaps just cleverly disguised accounting. 🤔

The Linea Gambit

Apparently, SWIFT has extended a hesitant hand towards Ethereum’s Layer 2, Linea. A curious courtship, wouldn’t you say? Like a grand old bear attempting ballet. It seems the urgency of competition, that relentless current, compels even the most established institutions towards… innovation? One shudders to think of the committee meetings that preceded this decision.

Stablecoins, those digital upstarts, have stirred the waters, making the once-placid realm of cross-border payments… competitive! Oh, the indignity! SWIFT, a titan of financial messaging, is finding itself less a majestic oak and more… a slightly creaky, but still imposing, beech tree.

Thus, the venerable SWIFT, purveyor of messages for banks the world over, finds itself contemplating a faster, more transparent path, even venturing into realms built on ‘blockchain.’ The irony, of course, is thick enough to spread on toast.

They say, in whispers reported by ‘The Big Whale’ (a rather dramatic moniker, don’t you think?), that SWIFT is toying with a migration to on-chain messaging, specifically within the Linea ecosystem. A bold move, or a desperate clinging to relevance? Time, as always, will tell.

An insider-always the most intriguing source-confided that:

“The project will take several months to materialize, but it promises an important technological transformation for the international interbank payments industry.”

Adaptation: A Creature of Habit

SWIFT, a household name (at least, within the households of bankers), manages the financial chatter for over eleven thousand international institutions. A veritable parliament of money.

But the system, alas, is burdened by its own weight – complex protocols, a labyrinth of compliance, and that frustrating ‘last mile’ problem. Transfers can linger for days, costing fortunes, while a humble remittance to a distant relative feels akin to navigating a bureaucratic nightmare. 😩

Contrast this with the ethereal ease of stablecoins and on-chain rails, where vast sums can journey for a mere fraction of a penny. It’s a cruel joke, really.

Indeed, aggregators of payments have noticed a decided leaning towards these digital currencies, a preference rising with the force of a spring tide. Even MoneyGram, that stalwart of traditional methods, has succumbed to the allure of stablecoins. SWIFT, naturally, observes this shift with a keen (and, one imagines, slightly anxious) eye.

It appears eighty percent of the network’s sluggishness lies in that difficult final stretch. To combat this, SWIFT is launching a pilot network, roping in seventeen banks, including BNY Mellon and Wells Fargo. A grand experiment, or a futile attempt to polish a dinosaur?

This ‘open network’ promises ‘no hidden fees’ (still skeptical, naturally) and, if the fates are kind, instant domestic settlement. Thierry Chilosi, a man of impressive title at SWIFT, assures us this will ‘elevate customer experience.’ Such lofty pronouncements!

“At Swift, we are committed to being an open network and doing all that we can to elevate the end customer experience right across the ecosystem.”

This could well be the scheme unfolding via Linea. And, as a consequence, perhaps a boon for Ethereum.

But what of Ripple [XRP]? That ambitious disruptor, forever nipping at SWIFT’s heels? Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple’s CEO, boasts they could handle fourteen percent of SWIFT’s volume by 2030. A bold claim, to be sure.

Currently, SWIFT processes over forty million messages daily – a staggering 450 transactions per second. XRP Ledger, in theory, can manage three times that capacity, reaching 1,500 TPS. Yet, SWIFT possesses an unassailable advantage: a network effect of over eleven thousand partner banks, spanning two hundred nations. Ripple, for all its speed, lacks such pervasive reach. 🌍

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2025-09-28 08:41