The global payment giant SWIFT - the entity processing over 150 trillion USD in transactions each year - has officially entered the direct blockchain testing phase. Notably, two prominent names in this process are Ripple's XRP and Hedera's HBAR.
This is not just a technology trial, but a clear signal that the traditional financial system is undergoing a strong shift towards blockchain and digital assets. With SWIFT's central role in international payments, any integration could create a massive demand surge for selected coins.
Why are XRP and HBAR on SWIFT's radar?
1. Technical perspective
XRP:
Specifically designed for cross-border payments.
Processes transactions in just 3-5 seconds, with extremely low fees.
Solves the liquidity issue - the biggest bottleneck in international payments today.
The RippleNet system already has partners in banking and PSP (Santander, SBI, Tranglo), making it easier for SWIFT to validate in a real-world environment.
HBAR:
Has extremely high throughput (10,000+ TPS, scalable through sharding).
Best energy performance among leading blockchains (carbon negative).
Uses aBFT + Hashgraph consensus mechanism, both fast and secure.
Suitable for asset tokenization scenarios, data management, and large-scale enterprise transactions - the pieces SWIFT is targeting when talking about 'tokenized assets'.
2. Practical perspective
SWIFT is currently processing over 150 trillion USD in transactions each year, a massive figure that requires any chosen blockchain solution to ensure stability, high processing speed, and extremely low costs. These are the criteria that both XRP and HBAR can meet.
Practically, XRP has proven its suitability as it has been tested by many banks and financial service providers in the international payment system, making it a natural choice for liquidity and cross-border money transfer scenarios.
Meanwhile, HBAR builds its reputation thanks to a global board of directors comprising leading corporations like Google, IBM, Boeing, Nomura, Standard Bank, Shinhan, LG, Ubisoft..., providing the reliability and corporate strength necessary for organizational scale deployment. Furthermore, both projects have higher legality and transparency compared to many other altcoins, making them strong candidates for SWIFT to consider in its transition to blockchain technology.
3. SWIFT's strategic perspective
SWIFT does not only stop at integrating crypto to speed up money transfers, but also pursues a more comprehensive strategy.
First of all, this network needs a solution to ensure global liquidity - an issue that XRP can address by acting as a bridging intermediary in cross-border transactions.
At the same time, SWIFT is also looking to build tokenization infrastructure for traditional assets such as bonds, stocks, fund certificates, CBDCs, or stablecoins, and this is precisely the area where HBAR excels with high performance and enterprise orientation.
More importantly, instead of allowing blockchain to threaten its monopoly position in international payments, SWIFT is proactively integrating powerful networks like XRP and HBAR to strengthen its ecosystem, maintaining its central role in global finance in the digital technology era.
Potential impact on the market and prices of XRP, HBAR
The potential impact of this move on the market and the value of XRP and HBAR is extremely noteworthy. If only 1% of the total volume of 150 trillion USD that SWIFT processes annually is deployed on the blockchain platform, this figure is already equivalent to about 1.5 trillion USD - greater than the entire current cryptocurrency market capitalization. This means that the demand for global liquidity (which XRP handles) and technical infrastructure (provided by HBAR) will surge, creating long-term buying pressure on both of these assets.
In the short term, the news of SWIFT testing blockchain has been enough to put XRP and HBAR on the radar of institutional investors, driving new interest and expectations. But more importantly, in the medium and long term, if SWIFT officially selects one or even both of these coins in its deployment roadmap, it could very well become a crucial catalyst for the next bull run in the crypto market.
Scenarios for the future
SWIFT's involvement in the blockchain space opens up various scenarios for the future of XRP and HBAR:
XRP prevails - If SWIFT prioritizes instant payment solutions and liquidity management, XRP will become the central currency in the system, serving as a 'bridge' for cross-border transactions. This will strengthen XRP's position as a coin directly linked to the banking and global payment industry.
HBAR leads - In the case that SWIFT values scalability, massive processing speed, and tokenization infrastructure, HBAR could become the backbone of the 'new financial internet', where traditional and digital assets coexist and transact seamlessly on the blockchain.
Hybrid model - This is seen as the most likely scenario: XRP and HBAR running concurrently. XRP takes on payment and liquidity functions, while HBAR provides the tokenization and enterprise governance platform. This combined model not only reflects the diverse needs of the global financial system but also offers more stability and flexibility than relying on a single network.
In fact, SWIFT's implementation of blockchain testing has marked a significant turning point in the digitization process of global finance. Whether XRP or HBAR prevails, or both are applied, the overall scenario remains that a massive flow of capital could flow into the crypto market in the coming years.
For investors, this is not only a technological advancement but also a long-term strategic opportunity. If SWIFT deploys blockchain on a large scale, XRP and HBAR could very well become two central assets of the global digital finance landscape, and their market values will grow to reflect this role.
