SETL takes part in asset tokenization pilot with SWIFT and other market participants

By Joy Dumasia

SETL announces that it will be working with SWIFT on an innovation pilot, as the cooperative explores how it can support interoperability in developing the tokenised asset market. In a series of experiments early next year, SETL, SWIFT, Clearstream, Northern Trust and other market participants will explore the issuance, delivery versus payment (DVP), and redemption processes to support a frictionless and seamless tokenised asset market. The experiments will use both established forms of payment and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

The market for tokenised assets is expected to reach 24 trillion USD by 2027. In response, SWIFT is undertaking a series of experiments alongside market participants from the tokenised and traditional asset ecosystem to explore how it can support the growth and development of the tokenised asset market. One of the critical risks in a world where tokenised and traditional assets co-exist is creating various technologies, platforms and regulatory environments. SWIFT’s focus will therefore be on ensuring interoperability, interconnecting market participants and simplifying their operations by completing activities centrally that would otherwise be performed bilaterally between institutions.

SETL will work with SWIFT and other participants in the experiments on integrating the various DLT environments and with transaction orchestrations by using their PORTL suite of products. PORTL provides a robust and permissioned toolset for financial institutions to build applications that interoperate between existing infrastructures and a range of enterprise ledger technologies, including Corda, Besu, Fabric, DAML and SETL’s high-performance ledger.

Marjan Delatinne, Head of Payments, SETL, said: “We are entering a pivotal moment of history by connecting the dots between SWIFT and the new tokenised world. This experiment could lay the foundation for better interoperability between participants and systems during the transactional lifecycle of tokenised assets.”

Anthony Culligan, Chief Engineer at SETL, stated: “We are very pleased to be contributing to this important initiative. We see significant innovation in securities tokenisation at the moment, and these experiments have the potential to create broader accessibility and interoperability between the emerging networks.” 

Vikesh Patel, Head of Securities Strategy, SWIFT, said: “Our vision for instant and frictionless transactions not only applies to traditional securities instruments but also to new asset classes as well. The insights from this exercise with leading capital markets participants will help us define and prioritise the concrete steps required to enable seamless processes for tokenised assets.”

Philippe Morel, CEO of SETL, concluded: “Earlier this month, we announced that the SETL-powered Regulated Liability Network (RLN) was proven to handle 1 million transactions per second, a result that dwarfs all other alternatives in sheer speed and scalability. We’re delighted to announce this important next step, cementing our position as a leader in the field of regulated tokens and bringing the reality of DLT adoption in financial markets, with all the benefits the technology promises, a little closer.”