Mitsuru Kayahana, the head of SWIFT in East Asia, delivered an important speech at the WeX2025 summit held in Tokyo, Japan. Kayahana stated that stablecoins, as a form of digital currency, will not significantly change the existing financial system but will focus on serving specific customer groups and application scenarios as their core value. (Background: Payment giant Stripe will launch a new stablecoin! Challenging SWIFT's cross-border payments, targeting pain points in emerging markets) (Background supplement: Western Union's gamble on stablecoins: Can a 172-year-old traditional company make a glamorous transition?) At the WeX2025 summit held in Tokyo, Japan, Mitsuru Kayahana, the head of SWIFT in East Asia, delivered an important speech. Kayahana stated that stablecoins, as a form of digital currency, will not significantly change the existing financial system but will focus on serving specific customer groups and application scenarios as their core value. Kayahana emphasized that as long as banks continue to act as intermediaries and service providers, traditional cross-border payment processes will coexist long-term with new payment tools such as stablecoins, complementing each other. Stablecoins coexisting with traditional finance, SWIFT building interoperability bridges. Kayahana further stated that the future financial ecosystem will present a diversified and symbiotic pattern, with central bank digital currencies (CBDC), private stablecoins, and tokenized deposits developing alongside each other. On the SWIFT side, it will build interoperability bridges between different digital assets and traditional currencies to prevent the financial ecosystem from becoming fragmented. Kayahana added that SWIFT is actively collaborating with financial institutions in East Asia, such as Japan and South Korea, to explore the compliance applications of stablecoins in cross-border transactions, ensuring their safety and feasibility within a regulatory framework. Looking to the future, Kayahana emphasized that SWIFT will uphold the principles of 'currency, platform, and network neutrality,' opening connections to all regulated networks that meet safety standards, promoting the transition of global financial infrastructure from 'fragmentation' to 'interoperability.' In summary, SWIFT's core goal is to achieve seamless circulation of digital assets such as CBDC and stablecoins with traditional currencies, thereby enhancing the efficiency and inclusivity of the global financial system. Traditional payment giants compete to layout in cryptocurrency and stablecoins. Not only SWIFT, but other traditional payment giants are also accelerating their entry into the cryptocurrency and stablecoin fields. For example, Visa and Mastercard have launched solutions supporting stablecoin settlements. Additionally, PayPal launched its own stablecoin, PYUSD, in 2023 and is actively promoting its applications in cross-border e-commerce and payment scenarios. The actions of these traditional payment giants indicate that stablecoins are becoming an important part of financial innovation. With the rapid growth of the stablecoin market, traditional financial institutions are seeking to maintain competitiveness in the digital economy era through technological integration and regulatory cooperation. Related reports: Traditional finance surrenders! The multinational remittance leader SWIFT develops 'blockchain transfers,' possibly connecting RWA and tokenized assets based on Ethereum. From 'Petrodollars' to 'Electricity Renminbi,' opportunities in the era of AI + stablecoins. Financial Times: US banking industry warns of loopholes in the 'Stablecoin Act,' fearing $6.6 trillion in deposits could flow out. 'SWIFT jabs back: Stablecoins are useless; they won't disrupt the existing finance because they only serve specific customers and scenarios.' This article was first published by BlockTempo (the most influential blockchain news media).

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