Ethereum Landed Its Biggest Partner Yet — SWIFT, Confirms Joe Lubin
Ethereum co-founder and ConsenSys chief Joseph Lubin appeared on Bloomberg Crypto on October 7 and confirmed that ConsenSys is building the prototype for SWIFT’s new blockchain-based shared ledger—an initiative that, according to SWIFT’s own announcement last week at Sibos in Frankfurt, will bolt a permissioned, always-on ledger into the global messaging cooperative’s infrastructure and natively integrate ISO 20022 financial messaging.
SWIFT Builds On Ethereum
Lubin said the first build “will most definitely implement messaging, financial messaging using ISO 20022,” adding that while SWIFT itself is “careful to stay in their lane and focus on the messaging part,” some participating banks are “interested in potentially diving down into settlement layers.”
“I have to be careful about what I say. It is a project that we’re building out. There will be technologists on their side and lots on our side. And I’m glad that you called it a prototype, because that’s what it is,” the ConsenSys founder added.
He declined to give a deployment timeline. “I do have an idea of what sort of timeline, and I can’t say too much about it. We’re defining what we believe will be the end state, and we’re backing that out, so I don’t know if SWIFT will be comfortable releasing the timeline at this point,” Lubin said.
SWIFT’s move—framed explicitly as a shared ledger that records, sequences and validates transactions—was unveiled on September 29, with the cooperative stressing that the project aims to deliver instant, 24/7 cross-border transactions at global scale and to accelerate “the transition to digital finance” while remaining asset-agnostic and interoperable with public and private networks. The formal materials did not name a base chain, but they did name ConsenSys as a core technology partner and emphasized ISO 20022 compliance and smart-contract-enforced business rules.
In his Bloomberg interview, Lubin underscored a broader strategic shift: the long-standing separation between “TradFi” and “DeFi” is breaking down. “Since the start of Ethereum, we had to stay on our own rail… the vibe in Frankfurt was very different,” he said, describing overwhelmingly positive bank feedback and calling it “about time for TradFi to merge or make use of DeFi.” He also characterized the current build as a true prototype with technologists “on their side and lots on our side,” reiterating that SWIFT would control the messaging scope while banks explore deeper layers like atomic settlement.
What “Using Ethereum” Means In Practice
While SWIFT has not officially specified the underlying chain in its press releases, multiple industry reports following Sibos and subsequent public remarks by Lubin say the prototype will run on Ethereum infrastructure—specifically ConsenSys’ Linea, an Ethereum layer-2 network that uses zero-knowledge proofs—positioning the build within the Ethereum ecosystem while maintaining a permissioned perimeter consistent with bank compliance requirements. That reporting aligns with ConsenSys’ own statement that it is “supporting Swift with early-stage prototyping” for the shared ledger.
The institutional context matters. SWIFT’s ledger initiative comes amid rapid growth in the $300 billion stablecoin market and a wave of bank tokenization pilots; its stated design goal is to extend existing rails rather than replace them, allowing banks to opt into tokenized processes where it improves speed, transparency, and finality.
Beyond SWIFT: Lubin’s Treasury ThesisLubin also used the Bloomberg segment to discuss the rise of “digital-asset-backed treasuries” (DATs) such as the Ethereum-focused vehicle he chairs at SharpLink. He argued that corporate ether accumulation is a “dampener on volatility,” describing ether as a “productive, yielding asset unlike bitcoin” when staked, and outlining a Berkshire-style flywheel in which a growing ETH base is deployed across Ethereum-aligned protocols for non-dilutive growth.
The strategic through-line is clear: if financial incumbents standardize on Ethereum-based rails for messaging and, increasingly, settlement, balance-sheet ETH becomes a strategic asset for institutions seeking exposure to the network’s activity and yield.
At press time, ETH traded at $4,484.
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