IBM announced on September 24 a beta ISO 20022 Messaging Adapter connecting clients of its Digital Asset Haven platform to Swift’s blockchain-based shared ledger for tokenized-deposit transactions.
The adapter is intended to let financial institutions use payment messages already used across the banking industry to initiate activity on the ledger. The arrangement links tokenized-deposit workflows with existing payment-messaging and settlement arrangements.
IBM separately announced a beta on-premises deployment of Digital Asset Haven. The adapter and the on-premises deployment are not broadly available production services.
IBM’s ISO 20022 adapter links Digital Asset Haven to Swift’s ledger
Standard ISO 20022 payment messages can instruct tokenized-deposit transactions through IBM’s beta adapter, which connects Digital Asset Haven clients to Swift’s shared ledger. Swift’s ledger supports 24/7 digital-asset movement before final settlement through existing systems, according to IBM.
In practical terms, the integration joins established payment instructions and settlement processes to a ledger-based transaction environment. Digital Asset Haven is the IBM platform on the client side; Swift’s shared ledger is the destination for the tokenized-deposit workflow. The arrangement is therefore presented as a connection to existing infrastructure, not as a wholly separate payment rail.
IBM announced the beta in its September 24 announcement. That announcement did not set out a timetable for general availability or provide transaction-volume figures.
Swift’s shared ledger has moved into first-mover testing
Participating financial institutions have already tested tokenized deposits on Swift’s ledger through Digital Asset Haven, IBM said. The shared ledger was designed with more than 40 financial institutions and is being piloted by 17 first-mover institutions, The Block reported.
Taken together, the figures show that the ledger’s broader design group is larger than its pilot group, while the IBM connection remains in an early testing phase—not a completed industry-wide migration to tokenized deposits.
Swift announced the shared ledger at Sibos 2025. IBM said the project had progressed from concept to activation in less than nine months, a timeline that frames the adapter as part of the ledger’s move from an announced initiative into first-mover testing.
The integration does not alter the division described by IBM: transaction instructions can be made through ISO 20022 messages, digital assets can move on the shared ledger at any time, and final settlement remains routed through current systems. For institutions assessing tokenized-deposit operations, that distinction may matter as much as the ledger connection itself.
IBM Digital Asset Haven interface banner showing wallet and transaction-management dashboards. — Source: IBM Newsroom
IBM Z and LinuxONE deployment keeps asset controls in-house
IBM’s beta on-premises deployment of Digital Asset Haven for IBM Z and LinuxONE lets clients manage stablecoins and tokenized deposits without relying on public-cloud infrastructure, according to the company’s announcement. Cryptographic keys remain in the client environment and are protected by IBM Crypto Express hardware-security modules.
That deployment governs where the platform and its key-management controls run; the separate messaging adapter connects payment instructions to Swift’s shared ledger through standard payment messages.
Together, the beta offerings allow participating institutions to test tokenized-deposit transactions through standard payment messages while retaining an on-premises management option. The supplied materials do not identify users of the deployment model or the scale of the tests.
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