Good morning!
Sibos, Swift's annual banking conference, is under way in Miami, and this edition opens with what Swift, Chainlink, IBM and Oracle brought there. Beyond Sibos, we look at stablecoins, AI agents and a crypto exchange owner heading into banking.
Some stories in Kaupr Daily:
💎 Swift wants to let you send money abroad with just a phone number or email
💎 Binance buys into Circle, giving USDC a push against Tether
💎 Circle Foundation backs stablecoin payments for UN aid agencies
💎 Cloudflare: bots and AI agents now generate more web traffic than people
💎 Kraken's owner Payward is about to buy a bank in Europe
— Morten
Swift, Chainlink and tech companies bring the banks onchain
For years, blockchain was cast as the technology that would make Swift obsolete. At Sibos in Miami this week, Swift is showing that it intends to be part of it instead. The conference has become the place where Swift, its long-standing partner Chainlink and the technology suppliers serving the banks choose to release their news.
We have covered Sibos in four stories on kaupr.io, alongside our July piece on how Swift came to adopt blockchain. All five can be read in English, Norwegian, Swedish and Danish. Here is each of them in brief:
Swift wants to let you send money abroad with a phone number or email
Swift is working with national payment systems such as Spain's Bizum, Brazil's Pix and Australia's PayID so consumers can send money abroad using a phone number or email. Bizum calls it a proof of concept, and Swift gives no launch date. Swift also says most of the 17 first-mover banks have used its blockchain ledger.
Why it matters: Cross-border payments still lose most of their time on the last stretch to the recipient's account. Borrowing the simplicity of domestic payment apps targets exactly that step.
Chainlink to connect banks to Swift's ledger while they keep their keys
Chainlink is building a way to connect banks' systems to Swift's blockchain ledger for round-the-clock payments. Banks sign transactions themselves and keep the keys, while Chainlink's software coordinates the workflow. Tokenised deposits stay on the banks' own balance sheets. Chainlink does not say which banks will use it, or when.
Why it matters: Banks can offer payments around the clock without changing their security governance or approval processes. That removes one of the practical hurdles to joining.
IBM and Oracle to connect banks' systems to Swift's blockchain ledger
IBM and Oracle want to connect banks' existing systems to Swift's blockchain ledger, so they can offer tokenised deposits and round-the-clock payments without replacing their payment platforms. Both build on ISO 20022, the message standard banks already use. IBM's solution is in beta and can run in the bank's own data centre. Neither names any banks.
Why it matters: Large technology suppliers are positioning themselves as the link between banks and the ledger. For a bank, joining can then become a supplier decision rather than a rebuild.
Chainlink lets banks control their own transfers between blockchains
Chainlink has launched CCIP 2.0, a new version of its standard for moving tokenised assets between blockchains. Banks and issuers can now run their own verification, attach compliance rules such as sanctions screening, and choose how fast transfers settle. CCIP secures more than $84 billion, with ANZ, Fidelity International and Sygnum among launch partners.
Why it matters: Tokenised funds and shares are spread across many blockchains. Regulated issuers can only distribute them widely if their own checks travel with every transfer.
From July: Swift couldn't beat blockchain, so it is adopting it
In July, Kaupr reported how Swift, long on the sidelines, began building a shared blockchain ledger with 17 major banks and Chainlink. Banks including UBS, BNP Paribas, Citi and HSBC tested live transactions across six continents. Final settlement stays in existing systems, and the partnership with Chainlink dates back to Sibos in 2016.
Why it matters: It shows why Swift, rather than being overtaken by stablecoins and tokenised deposits, chose to build blockchain into its own infrastructure.
Source: Couldn't beat the blockchain — so Swift is adopting it itself — Kaupr
New from Kaupr: Kaupr Events
Kaupr has launched Kaupr Events, a short newsletter about events in onchain finance: our own live events, curated picks from the Nordics and Baltics, and recordings of what you missed. It replaces our Luma calendar as the home for our events.
First up is How to invest in the tokenization trends, a joint event with Virtune on Wednesday 7 October, 11:00–12:30 CET, live online. Virtune's CEO and co-founder Christopher Kock and Chief Sales Officer Andreas Severin discuss what is driving tokenization, which platforms the financial industry is building on, and how investors can gain exposure through regulated ETPs. Moderated by Morten Myrstad.
Where USDC is gaining ground
Binance deal gives Circle a push in the race with Tether
Binance has bought $100 million of Circle shares and signed a five-year deal to promote USDC. Since their first partnership in 2024, USDC trading pairs on Binance have risen from 140 to 329, Kaiko data show. USDC stands at about $74 billion against Tether's $140 billion, and analysts say Tether's liquidity will be hard to dislodge.
Why it matters: Distribution decides which stablecoin people end up using. Binance gives Circle a route into the emerging markets where Tether is strongest.
Circle Foundation backs stablecoin payments for UN aid agencies
The Circle Foundation is funding the UN Development Programme and the World Food Programme to use regulated stablecoins in aid payments. UNDP will set up a pool to move from pilots, such as cash-for-work payments in Aleppo, to regular programmes. WFP will test two to three country corridors over three years. No amount is disclosed.
Why it matters: Aid agencies lose time and money on the last step to recipients. The WFP work is meant to give the humanitarian sector its first benchmarks on cost and speed.
Source: Circle Foundation Announces Support for United Nations Development Programme and World Food Programme — Circle (Source: press release)
AI agents now outnumber humans online
Cloudflare: bots and agents now generate more web traffic than people
Automated traffic overtook human traffic online in May 2026, more than a year earlier than Cloudflare had forecast, its founders write in their annual letter. If trends hold, they say, it could be 1,000 times human traffic within five years. Cloudflare will give anyone publishing content a way to get paid when agents use it.
Why it matters: When agents do the reading and buying, the sites they visit carry the cost. Cloudflare wants a payment layer that pays those sites back.
Source: Cloudflare's 2026 Annual Founders' Letter — Cloudflare (Source: company letter)
Kraken's owner wants to be more than an exchange
Payward is building one ledger for trading, banking and asset management
Payward, Kraken's parent, is building trading, banking, asset management and services for other firms on what co-CEO Arjun Sethi calls one ledger. Sethi says Payward is about to buy a bank in Europe; Bloomberg reported in July that it planned to buy a Lithuanian bank. Nasdaq has invested $100 million.
Why it matters: Payward is buying banking, derivatives and brokerage licences rather than building them. The reported Lithuanian target would bring that strategy to the Baltics.
Source: Kraken's parent Payward is betting billions on becoming financial infrastructure, not just a crypto exchange — CoinDesk (Source: CEO interview)
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Wishing you a great Tuesday — and welcome back tomorrow morning for the next edition of Kaupr Today.
Best regards Morten Myrstad Founder & Editor