Bottomline partners with Chainlink to connect $16 trillion payment network to blockchain

Chainlink and SWIFT service provider Bottomline have partnered to connect Bottomline's payment network, which processes over $16 trillion annually, to public and private blockchains. The integration allows more than 600 bank clients to access blockchain-based settlement using Chainlink's CCIP and CRE protocols while maintaining their existing ISO 20022 messaging systems. Following the announcement, Chainlink's native LINK token rallied over 6% to trade around $12.

Bottomline-Chainlink blockchain integration

• ▪Chainlink and Bottomline announced a partnership to enable Bottomline's bank clients to connect their payment infrastructure with public and private blockchains.
• ▪Bottomline processes over $16 trillion in payments annually and serves more than 600 banks, 1,200 financial institutions, and 10,000 businesses globally.
• ▪The partnership currently remains a proof-of-concept case that has not yet resulted in actual live transaction transfers on the blockchain.
• ▪Neither Chainlink nor Bottomline has disclosed the specific financial institutions involved, the deployment schedules, or the transaction fees for the program.
• ▪The integration allows banks to access blockchain-based settlement while continuing to send standard payment instructions using the ISO 20022 messaging standard.

Chainlink CCIP protocol

• ▪Chainlink's Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol connects separate blockchain networks to communicate and move tokenized value.
• ▪Chainlink's Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol has been active on mainnet since July 2023 and connects more than 60 blockchain networks.
• ▪Chainlink's Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol has processed more than $18 billion in cross-blockchain transactions across over 70 networks.

Chainlink CRE infrastructure

• ▪The Chainlink Runtime Environment coordinates payment workflows, transaction routing, and operational changes between traditional banking platforms and blockchains.
• ▪The Collateral AppChain of the DTCC utilizes Chainlink's tailored Runtime Environment for its collateral handling.

Cross-border payment inefficiencies

• ▪Global cross-border transactions can take multiple days to settle and often incur fees that exceed 5% of the transferred amount.
• ▪A 2026 forecast from J.P. Morgan indicates that global cross-border payments are expected to increase from $194 trillion in 2024 to $320 trillion by 2032.

Institutional blockchain adoption trend

• ▪Chainlink's Project Pangea involves more than 50 banking institutions across Europe and South Korea exploring T+0 foreign exchange settlements.
• ▪Major financial institutions including Swift, JPMorgan Chase, UBS Asset Management, ANZ Bank, and BNY Mellon have deployed Chainlink technology.
• ▪A joint report by BCG and ADDX estimates that the tokenized asset market could reach a valuation of $16.1 trillion by the year 2030.

LINK price movement

• ▪Charles Schwab confirmed that Chainlink's LINK, Solana's SOL, and Avalanche's AVAX will soon be available on Schwab Crypto.
• ▪The price of Chainlink's LINK token rose between 6.4% and 7.36% in the 24 hours following the Bottomline partnership announcement, trading around $11.88 to $12.08.

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