Swiss crypto bank AMINA Bank and Deutsche Börse’s Crypto Finance Group announced on Wednesday that they have completed a pilot on Google Cloud’s Universal Ledger platform for real-time settlement of fiat payments between Swiss banks.
The trial, carried out in collaboration with other anonymous banking partners, enabled 24-hour payment settlement across financial institutions while maintaining compliance with Swiss financial standards. Crypto Finance acted as the designated currency operator, onboarding banks and enforcing trading rules. AMINA integrated the system into its core banking platform to provide instant payments to selected customers without changing front-end operations.
The purpose of the test is to demonstrate how distributed ledger technology (DLT) can upgrade traditional financial infrastructure without requiring new forms of digital money or an overhaul of current regulations, the companies said in a press release.
The test comes as financial institutions around the world explore blockchain rail to improve the speed, cost and transparency of cross-border payments and settlements. These efforts are focused on rebuilding backend infrastructure that uses blockchain, rather than cryptocurrencies, to move funds and assets more quickly and securely.
Google’s Universal Ledger is a cloud-native system designed to enable real-time settlement of traditional assets using distributed ledger infrastructure. This allows banks to operate within the existing legal and regulatory framework while providing faster services.
The project follows a partnership between Google Cloud and derivatives giant CME Group, which includes a $1 billion investment to move CME’s trading systems to the cloud. This partnership lays the initial foundation for Google’s foray into financial infrastructure, including blockchain-based solutions for institutional investors.
The next phase of the pilot will include onboarding more financial institutions, moving from testing to production, and expanding into consumer-facing use cases such as POS and international payments.
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