First Mover Americas: Deutsche Bank Trials a SWIFT Alternative for Stablecoins

Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures are testing a system that will allow blockchain-based transactions, stablecoins, and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to talk to one another, taking an approach similar to the SWIFT messaging layer in legacy banking infrastructure. The banks are running a series of test cases, including transferring and swapping USDC stablecoins, on the Universal Digital Payments Network (UDPN), a permissioned blockchain system composed of validator nodes run by an alliance of banks, financial institutions and consultancies. The system, created by tech consultancy GFT Group and Red Date Technology, the co-founder of the Chinese Blockchain-Based Service Network (BSN), instructs and allows transactions to occur across a spectrum of networks, ranging from stablecoins on public blockchains to CBDCs.