Institutional Relations Lead

Chainlink connects banks to Swift blockchain ledger. By anonymous - September 29, 2026 Chainlink has announced a new connection framework for financial institutions to access Swift's blockchain ledger while keeping control of their transaction-signing keys. Chainlink said on Sept. 28 that banks would be able to connect their existing systems and key infrastructure to the Swift ledger through its platform, with the Chainlink Runtime Environment, or CRE, handling workflows between institutional systems and the shared ledger. The arrangement centers on a self-signing model. Financial institutions keep the keys used to authorize transactions, while CRE coordinates the workflow needed to read from and write to Swift's ledger. Chainlink said the structure lets institutions preserve existing approval procedures, security controls and operating models while adopting tokenized payment services. Banks can use the connection to manage smart-contract activity across their own tokenized-deposit ledgers and Swift's blockchain infrastructure. The deposits remain on bank-owned ledgers, while Swift coordinates payment commitments between participating institutions before final settlement. Chainlink gives banks controlled access to Swift's ledger. Under the announced framework, CRE sits between a financial institution's infrastructure and the Swift ledger without taking control of the institution's authorization keys. Chainlink describes CRE as the workflow layer responsible for coordinating interactions while each bank signs its own transactions. The model gives banks a route into Swift's blockchain system without requiring them to transfer signing authority to Chainlink. Institutions can continue using their internal governance and approval processes when authorizing transactions, according to the company. Sergey Nazarov, CEO of Chainlink Labs, said the company was "thrilled to be supporting the Swift ledger" as banks seek technology for tokenized deposits and ledger connectivity. Chainlink did not provide a timetable for individual banks to adopt its connection framework or identify which of Swift's pilot banks will use CRE first. The latest work extends a relationship between Chainlink and Swift that has covered institutional blockchain interoperability for several years. Previous work examined how financial institutions could use existing Swift infrastructure alongside blockchain networks, including experiments involving tokenized assets and cross-chain communication. Swift itself remains the operator of the new ledger. Its March implementation update said banks would run their own environments and retain authority over their keys, assets and funding. Settlement remains available through real-time gross settlement systems, correspondent banking arrangements or other mechanisms agreed between participants. Swift blockchain ledger uses tokenized bank deposits. Swift's ledger is designed to coordinate 24/7 cross-border payments using tokenized commercial-bank deposits. The tokens represent deposits that remain on each issuing bank's balance sheet and ledger. Swift's shared system records and validates payment commitments between institutions, allowing transactions to progress outside normal banking hours while leaving final settlement on existing financial infrastructure. Swift has stressed that the blockchain ledger does not replace its role as a global financial messaging network. Payment orchestration occurs before settlement, while the transfer of final funds continues through agreed settlement systems. Chainlink repeated the same distinction in its Sept. 28 announcement. Swift disclosed in March that the ledger's first iteration uses an Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible architecture based on Hyperledger Besu, an open-source enterprise blockchain platform. Swift operates the ledger and coordinates interbank processes, including validation of funding commitments. 17 banks are preparing initial Swift ledger pilots. Swift said in July that 17 banks from six continents were preparing initial live transactions using tokenized deposits after the ledger moved from concept to activation in nine months. The initial group includes ANZ, BNP Paribas, BNY, Citi, DBS, First Abu Dhabi Bank, FirstRand Bank, HSBC, Itaú Unibanco, Lloyds Bank, Mashreq, MUFG Bank, OCBC, Standard Chartered, UBS, UOB and Wells Fargo. Those pilots are intended to test payments that can operate overnight and during weekends before completing final settlement through existing systems. Swift said institutions from more than 40 financial firms contributed to the ledger's design during its development. HSBC has said it plans to connect its Tokenised Deposit Service to the shared infrastructure. Standard Chartered, UBS and UOB have separately described their participation as work focused on tokenized payments, interoperability and round-the-clock money movement. Swift reported in July that its existing network already connects more than 11,500 financial institutions and corporates across more than 200 markets. The cooperative said its infrastructure moves an amount equivalent to world GDP roughly every two to three days. Chainlink's new access layer does not mean every institution on the Swift network is moving onto the blockchain ledger. The Sept. 28 release describes a connection option for institutions seeking access, while Swift's controlled rollout currently centers on its initial participating banks. Swift plans to expand ledger use after controlled rollout. Swift said its blockchain ledger was ready for initial use in July and that functionality and availability would expand after the controlled launch phase. The first participating institutions are preparing live tokenized-deposit transactions across several use cases. Earlier implementation documents identified corporate and treasury payments as an initial focus. Swift said the system could eventually support programmable corporate payment flows, payment-versus-payment foreign exchange processes and cash movements associated with securities transactions. The platform has moved quickly since Swift announced the project at Sibos in September 2025. The original project involved more than 30 financial institutions and Consensys during work on the ledger prototype. By March 2026, Swift had completed the design stage and moved into MVP implementation, with more than 40 institutions contributing to the project. Swift said the initial MVP would let participating banks conduct live transactions using tokenized deposits around the clock while maintaining a synchronized record of obligations as transactions progress. The environment gives banks a place to test payment workflows while using existing compliance processes and settlement arrangements. Its July update moved the project into initial-use status, with the 17 institutions preparing live pilots. Swift said the ledger would expand in functionality and availability after the controlled go-live phase as participating banks put tokenized-deposit transactions into operation.

Chainlink launches new version of its crypto bridge tech 'CCIP' to give apps more control over their security. The new software lets companies add custom security checks so they do not fall victim to the same type of vulnerabilities that plagued rival bridges. Updated Sep 28, 2026, 10:56 a.m. EDT Published Sep 28, 2026, 8:30 a.m. EDT * Chainlink released CCIP 2.0, which lets companies add their own security checks to transfers between blockchains on top of Chainlink's default 16-operator verifier network. Chainlink released the Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) 2.0 on Monday, delivering a major upgrade to its communication and bridging infrastructure that enables different blockchains to communicate and swap funds. It lets companies add their own security checks to those transfers, with the launch coming five months after the year's biggest DeFi hack, blamed on a rival bridge that relied on just one of those checks. Chainlink is best known as an oracle network, feeding blockchains outside data such as asset prices that lending and trading apps depend on. CCIP, first launched in 2023, extends into moving tokens and messages between chains. Blockchains can't communicate directly, so moving a token from one to another depends on a bridge. The technology relies on verifiers, which confirm that a transaction really happened on the first chain before funds are released on the second. If a verifier is fooled, an attacker can withdraw money that was never deposited. That is what happened to Kelp DAO in April. Attackers allegedly linked to North Korea's Lazarus Group drained about $292 million in rsETH from Kelp's bridge, which ran on Chainlink's rival LayerZero, after tricking the single verifier the setup relied on. CLARITY stalled. Inside the SEC's plan for onchain markets LayerZero blamed Kelp for using one verifier instead of several, while Kelp said LayerZero staff had reviewed its setup and never objected. CoinGecko data showed nearly half of active LayerZero apps used the same one-verifier arrangement, and Kelp said it would move rsETH to Chainlink. Like LayerZero, CCIP 2.0 lets companies choose extra verifiers, running their own or hiring outside providers such as Infosys and Nethermind. Unlike Kelp's setup, though, those sit on top of Chainlink's default network of 16 independent node operators, which must reach a quorum on every transfer. Users shouldn't have to be "cross-chain security infrastructure experts," the company told CoinDesk. "Historically, legacy bridges have lost billions due to insecure infrastructure, while in-house builds are slow and expensive," Johann Eid, Chainlink Labs' chief business officer, said in a statement. The upgrade also changes a safeguard Chainlink used to promote heavily; its Risk Management Network, a separate set of nodes that double-checked transactions, no longer plays that role. Chainlink said that kind of independent check can now come from the optional verifiers instead. That means a user who adds nothing relies on one verifier network where previously there were two, though that network is made up of 16 operators rather than a single verifier. Existing integrations continue to work with CCIP 2.0 without any changes, Chainlink said. Still, the company has not named any institution using the new verifiers yet, saying only that Aave and Maple have started adopting some of the upgrade's other features. Update (Sept. 28, 14:41 UTC, 2026): An earlier version of the story said existing Chainlink users were automatically moved to CCIP. The story was updated to clarify how CCIP 2.0's verifiers work. As stablecoins move into regulated finance, APAC is becoming a key proving ground. This report maps the region's rules, use cases, and RLUSD's role. Sep 15, 2026 Commissioned by Ripple Why it matters: As stablecoins move into regulated finance, APAC is becoming a key proving ground. This report maps the region's rules, use cases, and RLUSD's role.

World opens Solana prediction market to 1M users. September 09, 2026 World has opened its standalone Solana prediction market platform to more than 1 million waitlisted users after creating over 150,000 markets through its Phantom integration. World gives waitlisted users direct market access. World said in a Sept. 9 announcement that world.xyz now gives more than 1 million waitlisted users direct access to its prediction markets, extending the service beyond the Phantom wallet where it has operated since July. The initial selection covers every NFL regular-season game, seven soccer leagues, and Formula 1. Contracts tied to the 2026 U.S. midterm elections and the Federal Reserve's upcoming policy decision are also available, placing political and economic events alongside sports and crypto markets. Each market offers "yes" and "no" contracts priced between $0 and $1. Their prices represent the market's assessment of whether an event will occur, while the final result determines which contract settles at $1 and which expires at $0. Users settle trades with CASH, the dollar-backed stablecoin used inside Phantom. World operates as a non-custodial protocol, meaning it does not take custody of customer funds, while orders are routed to liquidity providers operating on Solana. Unlike a conventional brokerage or centralized crypto exchange, World does not require users to open a brokerage account or register with an exchange. Phantom users still need enough funds to cover Solana network fees when opening or closing positions. World's service had already supported positions through Phantom before the standalone site went live. According to the company, users have opened positions through the prediction market service since June 1, 2026, while the wallet integration became publicly available in July. The platform has not disclosed its first-day trading volume, open interest, or fee structure. Without those figures, its initial share of prediction market activity cannot yet be compared with established venues such as Kalshi and Polymarket. Chainlink automates World market resolution. Chainlink Data Streams and the Chainlink Runtime Environment supply World with market data and automated resolution tools. Once a game finishes or another specified event reaches its deadline, the system can determine the result and settle the related contracts. Using automated data removes the need for a human resolution panel or a vote among token holders. World said older oracle designs can also include dispute periods that delay settlement, while its Chainlink setup is designed to process outcomes from defined data sources. Chainlink Labs Chief Business Officer Johann Eid linked World's waitlist of more than 1 million users to demand for prediction markets built on Solana. According to Eid, Chainlink provides the data and infrastructure needed to resolve markets quickly and efficiently. A similar model has already appeared elsewhere in the sector. In May, Myriad integrated Chainlink Data Streams and the Runtime Environment to automate the creation, resolution, and settlement of markets tied to BTC, ETH, BNB, and SOL. Myriad also announced plans to extend its service to stocks, commodities, and other real-world assets. Its adoption showed how Chainlink's infrastructure can coordinate external data with on-chain settlement without relying on a single manual decision-maker. For World, the system supports contracts across categories that resolve in different ways. Sports markets require verified final scores, Federal Reserve contracts depend on official policy decisions, and election markets need confirmed results under predetermined settlement rules. Solana keeps World liquidity onchain. Solana Foundation Head of DeFi Ramzy Ali said World introduces another type of tradable product to the network while keeping its liquidity within Solana's on-chain economy. Ali described the platform as "introducing a new asset class to Solana and keeping 100% of the liquidity onchain." World routes orders to Solana liquidity providers instead of managing trades through an off-chain order book controlled by the platform. According to the announcement, the arrangement allows capital committed to its markets to remain within the Solana network. The standalone launch also places World among a growing group of prediction market providers competing for retail activity. Prediction market volume across Kalshi, Polymarket and Polymarket US reached a record $50.59 billion in July, according to data reported in August. Kalshi accounted for $37.7 billion of the total, while Polymarket's international and U.S. platforms generated a combined $12.9 billion. The figures represented notional trading volume rather than deposits or exchange revenue because contracts can change hands several times before settlement. World has not provided comparable turnover data for the more than 150,000 markets created through its service. Its disclosed market count measures the number of contracts launched, not the amount of money traded or the number of active customers. Access remains available through world.xyz and inside Phantom on iOS, Android, and desktop. Phantom states that prediction markets are offered only in jurisdictions where they are supported, although the launch announcement did not provide a country-by-country availability list. U.S. access depends on local prediction market rules. World's inclusion of NFL games and the 2026 midterm elections gives the platform a direct connection to U.S. events, but listing an American event does not establish that users in every U.S. state can trade it. Prediction market access in the country remains subject to disputes over federal derivatives oversight and state gambling laws. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulates designated contract markets, while several state authorities contend that sports and election contracts can fall under their own gaming rules. In September, conflicting Kalshi rulings had produced different outcomes in federal appellate courts. The Third Circuit allowed an injunction protecting Kalshi from New Jersey enforcement to remain in place, while the Ninth Circuit permitted Nevada regulators to enforce state gaming requirements as litigation continued. New Jersey subsequently asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review whether the Commodity Exchange Act prevents states from applying sports-gambling laws to event contracts listed by a CFTC-regulated exchange. The petition does not mean the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the dispute. World has not said that it operates a CFTC-registered exchange, nor has it identified which of its contracts are accessible to U.S. residents. Its jurisdiction notice therefore remains important for American users considering markets tied to sports, elections, or Federal Reserve decisions. After the standalone rollout, World plans to add equity up-and-down contracts. Commodity markets covering gold, silver, oil, natural gas, and computing capacity are also planned, followed by weather contracts tied to major cities.