Societe Generale-FORGE and Swift Make History: Tokenized Bonds Settled Using Stablecoin

Forget the old guard—the real financial revolution just bypassed them entirely.

Societe Generale's digital asset arm, FORGE, has teamed up with global messaging giant Swift to execute a landmark transaction: settling tokenized bonds using a stablecoin. This isn't a test or a pilot. It's a working blueprint for a new financial system, built on-chain.

The Old World Meets the New

The process cuts through traditional settlement layers. A digital bond, issued and represented as a token on a blockchain, was transferred. Payment didn't come via a slow correspondent bank network. It was executed instantly using a euro-pegged stablecoin. Swift's role? Providing the secure messaging layer that connected the legacy financial world with this new digital asset infrastructure—proving the pipes can talk to each other.

Why This Cuts Deep

This move slashes settlement times from days to seconds. It eliminates counterparty risk in the settlement window and reduces the capital institutions must lock up. It demonstrates that regulated, institutional-grade assets can live and transact natively in the digital economy. The stablecoin isn't just a payment method; it's the settlement asset, turning the bond itself into programmable, composable capital.

A Quiet Threat to the Middlemen

Every bank, custodian, and clearinghouse that profits from the friction of traditional finance just felt a chill. This model disintermediates them at the point of highest value: final settlement. The technology doesn't just improve the current system—it offers a starkly more efficient alternative. It’s the kind of innovation that makes you wonder what half the finance industry has been doing for the last twenty years besides collecting fees.

The new rails are being laid, and they don't require permission from the old station masters. The future of finance is settling—instantly.

By offering both EURCV and USDCV, SG-FORGE and Bullish Europe said it is positioning itself at the forefront of regulated stablecoin adoption bridging the gap between traditional financial infrastructure and blockchain-based markets.

Bridging Blockchain and Traditional Finance

This latest collaboration builds on years of joint work between SG-FORGE, Swift, major financial institutions, and public bodies to establish a secure and interoperable framework for digital assets.

Swift’s role as an orchestration LAYER proved critical, coordinating messages and settlement across multiple platforms while maintaining compliance with established financial messaging standards.

European Digital Finance Initiatives

The project also builds on experimental work by the European Central Bank around interbank central bank digital currency. The firm said by adding fiat currencies alongside stablecoins as settlement assets, the trial explored hybrid settlement models that could appeal to banks and corporate firms.

The settlement flows were completed using Swift infrastructure and ISO 20022 standards, reinforcing the feasibility of adopting tokenized assets within existing regulatory and operational frameworks.

A Blueprint for Scalable Digital Asset Adoption

By proving that tokenized bonds can settle efficiently over Swift, the project also highlights a practical path toward faster settlement cycles, reduced operational risk, and enhanced transparency for capital markets participants.

Thomas Dugauquier, Tokenised Assets Product Lead at Swift, said the trial demonstrates how interoperability will shape the future of capital markets, enabling customers to adopt digital assets with confidence and at scale.

SG-FORGE CEO Jean-Marc Stenger added that the collaboration supports the adoption of efficient, fast, and secure payment solutions for financial institutions and corporates using distributed ledger technology and EUR CoinVertible as a reference stablecoin.

Tested with participating banks the pilot forms part of Swift’s broader digital asset programme. In September last year, Swift said it was working with more than 30 global banks, including Societe Generale and SG-FORGE, on a shared digital ledger focused on allowing real-time, 24/7 cross-border payments.