IBM today revealed it has integrated a platform for managing digital assets, such as wallets, that runs on mainframes with permissioned blockchain networks, including a shared ledger operated by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) also launched today, using an adapter that is now available in beta.

Additionally, IBM is making an on-premises instance of the IBM Digital Asset Haven available in beta alongside the existing software-as-a-service (SaaS) and hybrid cloud service editions that were made available in 2025.

Tina Tarquinio, chief product Officer for the IBM Z and LinuxONE platforms at IBM, said the integrations with permissioned blockchain networks will make it possible for financial services firms that rely on mainframes to also now use them to process digital cryptocurrencies. Via standard ISO 20022 messages, financial institutions can instruct tokenized deposit transactions using shared ledger infrastructure in a way that enables transactions to be processed using payment workflows that already exist on the mainframes, she noted.

The on-premises edition of the platform, meanwhile, will make it possible for financial services firms operating in highly-regulated environments to achieve and maintain digital sovereignty, noted Tarquinio.

Unlike a public blockchain network such as Bitcoin, a permissioned blockchain network is based on a ledger for digital assets such as stablecoins and tokenized deposits that can only be accessed by a verified end user. As more nations and institutions set up these networks to process some type of cryptocurrency, there is a growing need to integrate with systems with existing transaction processing applications running on mainframes. In fact, the ledger from SWIFT has been launched with support from 40 financial institutions.

IBM ensures the security of those transactions using IBM Crypto Express hardware security modules (HSMs) embedded in its LinuxONE platform to enable confidential computing in a partitioned IT environment. IBM also provides Structured Key Ceremonies and Cold Storage capabilities to create a formal, auditable process for generating keys as a root certificate authority. The overall goal is to enable pervasive encryption across any workflow, noted Tarquinio.

It’s not clear how many permissioned blockchain networks there might ultimately be, but the number is growing. More nations, including the U.S., are now encouraging adoption of digital cryptocurrencies across multiple use cases. That shift has created a need to integrate existing payment systems with digital wallets and other tools used to manage transactions using various types of digital cryptocurrencies that are all subject to different and often inconsistent regulations that are being implemented across the world.

Hopefully, the rise of digital cryptocurrencies will lead to more, rather than less, economic uncertainty. The World Economic Forum (WEF) estimates the combined market capitalization for Stablecoins alone is more than $300 billion. Most of those Stablecoins are pegged to the U.S. dollar, but that could theoretically change as geopolitical tensions ebb and flow. Regardless of how any digital currencies are valued, the one thing that is certain is that as transactions using them are processed, a mainframe is likely to be somehow involved.