After half a century of a monopoly finally the outdated legacy system known as SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications) is getting a face lift with the new ISO 20022 protocol. International Organization for Standardization 20022 is an international protocol that provides a secure and standardized way of exchanging financial messages between organizations within the payment industry. Banks globally will migrate from legacy SWIFT MT financial messaging to the highly structured and data-rich ISO 20022 standard in the coming years. The framework provides an internationally agreed business message syntax and semantics. ISO 20022 will become the global standard for large-scale payment systems of reserve currencies, handling the vast majority of such transactions worldwide.

  Why do we need a global standardization protocol? In basic networking two models are defined: The Open System Interconnection Model provides a framework for creating and implementing networking standards and devices and describes how network applications on different computers can communicate through the network media. The Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol Model  is a suite of communication protocols used to interconnect network devices on the internet. TCP/IP is also used as a communications protocol in a private computer network (an intranet or extranet).

  Here is a brief description of the various TCP/IP Layers:

• Network Interface – defines the protocols and hardware required to deliver data across a physical network.
• Network – defines the protocols for the logical transmission of packets over the network.
• Transport – defines protocols for setting up the level of transmission service for applications. This layer is responsible for reliable transmission of data and the the error-free delivery of packets.
• Application – defines protocols for node-to-node application communication and provide services to the application software running on a computer.

 Various protocol standards are created so at each layer of the stack your packet(s) can transverse from your ethernet cord out to your default gateway, travel the worldwide web and reach the destination host's mac address to deliver your packet in the order you sent them. All the protocols are interconnected and allow for a standardization so communication isn't disrupted along the way and each layer's protocols can work interdependent with each other and at the same time support protocols at each layer of the hierarchical stack.

 I have always held the heretic point of view that cryptocurrencies were the beginning of the end but this conjecture is not one borne out of ignorance but one experienced through the misuse of the word decentralization and the lack of obfuscation on transparent blockchain ledgers. Here are the harbingers of our coming dystopian future or perhaps a utopia for some of you. The above diagram is more for bank to bank, country to country cross border payments but let's take a look at some of the cryptocurrencies that are likely to ISO 20022 compliant based on partnerships or citations.

 XRP

  In 2020 Ripple, the company behind XRP, became the first “distributed ledger technology (DLT) focused” member of the ISO 20022 Registration Management Group, as well as the Standards Evaluation Group for Payments.

This was a natural progression for Ripple, as XRP is the most prominent payments-focused cryptocurrency, and it has partnered with banks in facilitating faster cross-border payments and instant settlements.

A number of high-profile institutions use Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) service to avoid costly pre-funding for cross-border payments. ODL uses XRP to “bridge two currencies in under three seconds, ensuring payments are quickly sent and received in local currency on either side of a transaction”.

XDC

 XDC is a Singapore-based, delegated Proof of Stake blockchain, which focuses on global trade finance.

 "XinFin Private Network lets any kind of enterprises connect their legacy systems with a Blockchain Network using the XDC Protocol and messaging compatible with ISO20022 standard." - states their website.

Xinfin partnered with R3, a consortium of over 200 financial institutions, in order to act as a bridge and host dApps on the Corda Marketplace. Corda is "compatible with existing and emerging regulation such as ISO 20022".

XLM

 Although Stellar doesn't state on their website that they are ISO 20022 compliant all the buzzwords for agenda 2030 are there to describe it. "Borderless. Limitless. Powerful. Stellar makes it possible to create, send, and trade digital representation of all forms of money: dollars, pesos, bitcoin, pretty much anything. It's designed so all the world's financial systems can work together on a single network".

 It also has close ties with IBM ( which is 20022 compliant based off their website). IBM uses the Stellar Blockchain for its cross-border payment system 'IBM World Wire', while it uses XLM as the bridge currency.

ALGO

 Algorand is a member of the Digital Payments Institute which produced an article titled "The Future of Payments". The paper acknowledges the importance of ISO 20022 for a properly functioning and interoperable global payments infrastructure:

 "Improved data standards, notably ISO 20022, will ease the flow and hand-off of data across the global payments ecosystem and facilitate automation... Industry-wide migration to ISO 20022 messaging for all cross-border and cash management messages is scheduled to commence from the end of 2022".

 For all of you bullion lovers, look at the derivatives the 1 % ers have in mind for precious metals. Notice what isn't there? No Bitcoin, no Ether, no Litecoin I mention these because the comparison was once made to describe their value.

"The adoption of ISO 20022 messages for Swift cross-border payments and cash management messages (CBPR+) must be completed by November 2025, at which point category 1, 2 and 9 FIN messages will be retired from the many-to-many Closed User Group, known as the FIN service. We’ll continue to support domestic payment market infrastructures (PMIs) adopting ISO 20022, including major reserve currencies, TARGET2 and Eurosystem Market Infrastructure Gateway (ESMIG) for EUR, Bank of England (new RTGS) for GBP, MEPS for SGD, and 30 additional PMIs going live by the end of 2023. FIN messages will continue to be supported for securities." 

I encourage you to use Ethereum's Layer 2 to read between the lines and get a sense of what's coming. Things To Do On zkSync 1.0 Mainnet are prelude to Digital IDs and the new Matrix that is being created in the Metaverse of blockchain gaming. The new system won't be a choice but the good news is that we are in flux while it's being implemented. 2022 was the year to buy things but just because you gave me a foreshadowing of what is to come doesn't mean I consent. To the non-believers, "We'll keep fighting for you, until you decide which side you are on even if you are not on our side." My time in cryptocurrencies is not based on the Narrative Fallacy - addresses our limited ability to look at sequences of facts without weaving an explanation into them, or, equivalently, forcing a logical link, an arrow of relationship upon them. I know and believe Revelations 13:16 " And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." If this is true then the unicorn that is the protocol called Bitcoin has or will have no relevance in that future time.

  Fingers walk the darkness down
Mind is on the midnight
Gather up the gold you've found
You fool, it's only moonlight.
If you try to take it home
Your hands will turn to butter
You better leave this dream alone
Try to find another.

            - Townes Van Zandt