UBS and Ant's Blockchain Trial Sets 24/7 Standard for Global Payments

UBS Group AG and Ant International, the fintech arm of Alibaba's Ant Group, have entered a strategic partnership to trial blockchain-based tokenized deposits aimed at enhancing global treasury efficiency and cross-border payment settlements. The collaboration, formalized under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed at UBS's Singapore office, will integrate UBS Digital Cash-a blockchain platform launched in 2024 into Ant International's treasury operations. The platform is designed to enable real-time, multi-currency fund transfers without traditional payment cut-off constraints, leveraging Ant's in-house Whale blockchain system for treasury management.

The partnership builds on Ant International's growing adoption of tokenized deposit solutions, including prior collaborations with HSBC, Standard Chartered, and DBS Bank. By 2024, over a third of Ant's transactions were processed on-chain through Whale, which serves as an orchestration layer for cross-bank settlements. UBS's Digital Cash, which has already processed domestic and cross-border payments in USD, CHF, EUR, and CNY during a 2024 pilot, will further expand Ant's capabilities in liquidity management and transparency. UBS Singapore Country Head Young Jin Yee emphasized the initiative's potential to "set standards for transparency and efficiency" in global financial markets.

The collaboration comes as UBS faces regulatory headwinds in Switzerland. The Swiss government has proposed capital requirements that could force UBS to inject up to $26 billion into its Swiss headquarters, a move the bank has criticized as disproportionate. In response, UBS Chairman Colm Kelleher has engaged in private talks with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent about relocating the bank's headquarters to the U.S. as a contingency plan. The Trump administration has reportedly shown receptiveness to the idea, while Swiss lawmakers have pushed back against the government's proposed rules, urging alignment with international standards. UBS has argued that the new capital rules, particularly those excluding software and deferred tax assets from core capital, would weaken its financial resilience.

Ant International's push into tokenized deposits aligns with broader trends in blockchain-based payments, which offer 24/7 settlement capabilities and reduce costs for cross-border transactions. The Financial Stability Board has set targets to cut global retail payment costs to 1% by 2027 and remittance fees to 3% by 2030, a goal blockchain advocates argue the technology can help achieve. Ant's participation in Singapore's Project Guardian-a regulatory sandbox for blockchain payments-has already demonstrated the potential for real-time settlement in international trade.

The partnership underscores UBS's strategic pivot toward digital assets and blockchain, following its Digital Cash pilot. Meanwhile, Ant International gains access to UBS's global institutional expertise, positioning both firms to reshape treasury operations through tokenization.