Swift Hackathon 2026
Scaling digital assets through standards
#swift #tokenisedassets #iso20022standards #digitalinterop #smartcontrols #tokenfinance
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Swift Hackathon: Scaling digital assets through standards
Help shape the next phase of digital asset adoption
How can digital assets scale efficiently across platforms?
Digital assets are moving into mainstream financial use, as their adoption, volume and complexity continue to grow. In turn, interoperability, security and scalability are becoming critical.
Join the Swift Hackathon 2026 to explore and help shape the next phase of digital asset adoption.
Why join?
- Collaborate with industry participants on practical implementation approaches
- Present solutions to industry leaders at Sibos 2026 in Miami (for winners and runners-up)
- Contribute to the evolution of Swift’s digital assets standards platform
- Build skills and network, while competing alongside top worldwide tech talent
Problem Statements
Teams are asked to design and develop solutions to one or both of the following challenges: Download our Hackathon Briefing Pack for all the details.
Who does what in a tokenised world?
As financial instruments become tokenised, existing market roles continue to underpin how transactions are executed across markets and asset classes.
In this challenge, teams are asked to develop a standardised business role model for executing a transaction involving a tokenised financial instrument, grounded in established market practice.
The focus is on describing responsibilities, lifecycle events and workflows, and aligning them to structured, standards‑based data. This work combines research and design to produce practical models that will enrich and expand the content and scope of the Swift’s digital assets standards platform, supporting broader adoption of standardised digital asset practices.
Objectives & considerations
- Selection of business role & lifecycle event
Select one financial market role (e.g. issuer, transfer agent, paying agent, registrar) and one specific lifecycle event involved in a transaction (e.g. issuance, transfer, corporate action, redemption) for an asset class relevant to future digital markets. Using the provided components, describe:- The selected lifecycle event
- The role's responsibilities
- The key operational workflows
- Functional capabilities: Describe how the selected role interacts with tokenised capabilities (for example transfer, lock, partitioning or event notification), without assuming a fully standardised digital‑asset taxonomy.
- Standards alignment and gaps
Map roles and activities to ISO 20022 business components and data elements, using the existing Excel template, and identify gaps in current standards as well as where additional data elements may be needed. - On‑ and off‑chain integration
Assess which activities may be automated and which remain off‑chain, including which functions may be suitable for smart‑contract execution. - Scalability and market readiness
Consider how standardised role models and workflows could scale across institutions and support broader adoption. - Practical modelling and design
Ensure outputs go beyond research, delivering practical modelling and design artefacts that can inform future standards work.
Cracking the control conundrum
Digital asset ecosystems rely on control functions – such as compliance, identity and permission management – to operate securely and in line with regulatory requirements and to interoperate with existing banking systems.
In this challenge, teams are asked to design an asset‑agnostic control function with a clear technical design, aligned with existing standards and suitable for reuse across different digital asset environments.
Submissions should include a clear technical design; a lightweight prototype or proof of concept is encouraged, where helpful, to illustrate how the function would operate in practice, but is not required. Teams are free to use the technologies best suited to their approach, provided these choices are clearly explained and justified.
The resulting designs will enrich and expand the content and scope of the Swift’s digital assets standards platform, supporting broader adoption of standardised digital asset practices through reusable, interoperable technical components.
Objectives & considerations
- Control function scope
Design a standard‑ready, asset‑agnostic smart‑contract control function, such as compliance, freeze or validation controls and show that it works independently of token type. - Functional design and execution
Explain the logic of the control function (rules, conditions and decision points) and where and how the function operates (on‑chain, off‑chain or hybrid) and why this split is required. A prototype or proof of concept may be used, where helpful, to illustrate how the design would operate in practice. - Event handling and governance
Define the event flows associated with the control function and address governance and oversight considerations relevant to the function. - Interoperability, standards and reuse
Demonstrate alignment with recognised frameworks and compatibility with ISO 20022 where applicable; and structure the design so it can be reused as a modular component within the Swift’s digital assets standards platform.
AWARDS
Showcase your solutions at Sibos
🏆 Winners present live at #Sibos2026 Miami
💻 Build inside the APIX sandbox with real dev tools
🤝Gain exposure to @Swift leadership & the global financial services industry
🌐Be part of a global movement of digital assets adoption.
Winners to Present at Sibos
The winners & runners up will get the unique opportunity to present their solutions to industry leaders at Sibos in Miami
Eligibility
- Each team should consist of a maximum of 10 participants from a single company.
- Companies can register a team to compete in one or both challenges, however only one solution per team can be submitted for each challenge.
- Team registration will be split based on company size – please ensure you select the correct registration that is relevant to the size of the company you are applying from.
- As part of the registration, you will be asked to submit your proposal. Only five teams from each challenge will move onto the hackathon phase.
- The proposal should give a short summary as to the solution you plan to build. This includes a problem statement, solution overview, and details of why your team should be selected.
- Teams will then be selected to take part in the two-week hackathon, during which time they will build a prototype.
- Participants should look to submit: a demo of the prototype (no longer than 5 minutes), a presentation, and any supporting material.
- For both challenges, participants can leverage publicly available data within their solutions.
Media Centre
FAQ
1. What is the deadline for registrations?
All participants should register their team by 23:59 CET on 22 June.
2. How many people can make up a team?
The maximum number for a team is 10.
3. Is it time zone specific (if so which one) or global?
It is a global Hackathon that will bring together the wider community of major banks and fintech developers.
The event will be remote, with introduction and briefing sessions happening to cover all time zones.
4. What is date/timeframe for the hackathon development phase?
Teams will have access to the Hackathon sandbox from 10-24 July to develop their solutions.
5. Is there a cost associated with participation?
The hackathon is free of charge for teams/participants.
6. Is there a prize?
Hackathon winners and runners-up for both challenges will receive complementary passes to Sibos 2026 in Miami. Each team can choose to receive either 2x1-day passes or 1x2-day pass.
The winners and runners-up will also have the opportunity to present their solutions on the Innotribe stage at Sibos 2026 on 1 October. Each team is asked to nominate one senior member to represent them in person at the session.
The winners of both challenges will also get the chance to collaborate with Swift teams on the future development of Swift’s digital assets standards platform.
7. What does each team need to submit on 24 July?
Teams will need to submit a pitch deck, a demo of their prototype if applicable and any supporting materials.
8. What tools/data/APIs can I use?
Developers will have access to the Hackathon sandbox environment, including a spreadsheet reference of ISO 20022 data elements and business components, and access to MyStandards on Swift.com.
Teams are free to use any open source, publicly available tooling/data/APIs to support their value propositions.
How to Register for Hackathon
How to Register for Hackathon
Teams can submit a single solution for one or both challenges.
Registration Guide
Registration Guide
Please click on the link below to know How to Register & Submit Proposal.