Hedera (HBAR), Stellar (XLM), and Cardano (ADA) Lead the Charge as ISO 20022-Compliant Cryptos That Could Partner With Central Banks

• ISO 20022 is set to go live on March 20, ushering the world into a new era of financial technology, and Hedera, Cardano, Stellar, and IOTA are among the projects leading the charge in the crypto world.
• Becoming ISO 20022-compliant entitles a crypto project to be part of the new financial order and partnering with the world’s top banks to deliver next-level financial services.

A new era in the financial technology world is upon us. On March 20, the world will transition to using ISO 20022 technology in financial communications, replacing SWIFT, and Hedera, Cardano, and Stellar are among the projects leading the march into this bold new world for crypto.

ISO 20022 is a new global protocol that financial entities will rely on to exchange financial messages securely. Previously, they have relied on SWIFT, which has been around for five decades. SWIFT came before most of today’s existing technology and can no longer keep up with the rapid advancements in the payments sector.

While the new standard will go live in three weeks, financial institutions will have time to adapt to the new global dynamics. A report by Boston financial consultancy Celent found that only 63% of large banks believe they will be ready for the full transition by November next year. A quarter of the respondents say they won’t be ready by then and will require assistance to comply.

Hedera, Cardano, Stellar Lead the ISO 20022 Revolution

When SWIFT was formulated in 1973, cryptocurrencies were not around, and it would take another three and a half decades before Satoshi Nakamoto launched Bitcoin. Therefore, SWIFT didn’t cater to these digital currencies and they have struggled to infiltrate this multi-trillion-dollar market.

However, with ISO 20022, crypto is a major part of the conversation. This makes it critical for crypto projects to be involved in this revolution, and some like Cardano and Hedera are making moves.

According to one source, only nine digital assets have been certified ISO 20022 compliant:

• Stellar
• Ripple
• Cardano
• Hedera
• IOTA
• XDC
• Verge
• Algorand
• Quant

For cryptos, ISO 20022 could be a godsend. Finally, cryptocurrencies will get the opportunity to showcase the full capabilities they have been touting for years. Projects that have claimed they could impact cross-border finances can now do it within the regulatory guidelines and while partnering with financial institutions.

As former US Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks aptly explains, crypto could solve a 1,000-year-old problem for the financial services industry as its technology is next level, and becoming ISO 20022 is a critical step in this journey.

Internal efforts within the ISO 20022-compliant cryptos are underway to ensure a smooth transition. In the Stellar ecosystem, projects like Cheesecake Labs are working with crypto and legacy firms to explore how the vastly scaling Stellar blockchain can underpin their ISO 20022 activities.