Societe Generale Forge’s digital assets unit (SG Forge) and banking network Swift said on Thursday they had completed a trial that settled tokenized bonds using both conventional cash transfers and blockchain-based payments, in a move aimed at making digital assets easier to plug into mainstream market infrastructure.
Euro-backed Coin Joins Conventional Payment Rails
Societe Generale Forge, the French lender’s crypto-focused subsidiary, used its euro-denominated EUR CoinVertible stablecoin as one of the payment assets in the test, while Swift coordinated the transaction between distributed ledger platforms and current bank payment systems.
The firms said EUR CoinVertible is designed to meet European Union MiCA rules for crypto assets and has been built so it can connect directly to Swift’s interoperability setup.
Pilot Draws on ECB Wholesale Digital Currency Work
The initiative built on experimental work by the European Central Bank on interbank central bank digital currency. In the joint trial, participating banks handled essential bond market steps, such as issuance, delivery versus payment settlement, coupon flows, and final redemption, using a mix of regular fiat currencies and the stablecoin for settlement.
According to Societe Generale Forge and Swift, the trial showed that tokenized bonds can be stored on distributed ledgers while the money for transactions is processed using the current Swift system that already follows ISO 20022 messaging standards. They said this could allow banks and corporate treasurers to shorten settlement times while keeping current controls and compliance checks.
Interoperability Seen as Key to Wider Adoption
Thomas Dugauquier, tokenized assets product lead at Swift, said the project underlined the role of interoperability between legacy systems and new technology in the future shape of capital markets and argued that showing coordination across platforms should help clients adopt digital assets at scale.
Jean-Marc Stenger, chief executive of Societe Generale Forge, said cooperation with Swift should support broader use of payment arrangements that rely on distributed ledger technology and on EUR CoinVertible as a reference stablecoin for companies and financial institutions.
Part of Wider Digital Asset Program at Swift
The trial sits within a broader program at Swift that explores digital assets and new forms of money. In September last year, the network said more than 30 global banks, including Societe Generale and its Forge unit, would work on a shared blockchain-based ledger for cross-border payments aimed at allowing money to move in real time around the clock.
