Liechtenstein-based Bank Frick currently added support for the USDC stablecoin, enabling its clients to deposit and buy and sell, USDC by their bank. “With the addition of USDC, we enable our customers to process USD payments quickly and token-based,” said Stefan Rauti, the head of blockchain banking at Bank Frick in a statement. “Compared to the classic SWIFT procedure, the processing time is significantly reduced.”

USDC integration enables Bank Frick users to send and settle payments quicker than the SWIFT payments network utilized by a majority of banks. SWIFT transfers typically take within 24 and 48 hours to settle, while blockchain-based stablecoin transfers are often resolved within minutes, if not hours, from the time they are sent.

Circle CEO and co-founder Jeremy Allaire anticipates seeing more banks add stablecoin support shortly, stating it’s “a trend we are seeing and expecting to surge in the year ahead–regulated banks adding support for USDC, which is becoming a significant alternative rail to value transfer for banks.” Allaire stated banks are engaged in appending support for stablecoins such as USDC as they can serve as a more effective value transfer rail than traditional methods like SWIFT.

A recent whitepaper from Former U.S. Commodity and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chair Christopher Giancarlo’s Digital Dollar Project reverberates Allaire’s statement. The Digital Dollar Project white paper promotes the Central Bank of the United States to examine central bank digital currencies as it “improves time and cost efficiency supports the USD as the world’s reserve currency, provides broader access to central bank money and payments, and emulates features of physical cash in an increasingly digital world.”

The Digital Dollar whitepaper also supports the U.S. government is putting more pressure on its blockchain and digital asset research and development. It warns that if they do not, that they will have to follow frameworks produced by foreign governments. Foreign governments and companies outside of the U.S. seem to be leading blockchain development and advancement. The United States has been reluctant to work with blockchain technology and digital assets, while foreign governments, like China, and international companies, like Bank Frick, have discovered ways to combine blockchain and digital assets into their business models to enhance efficiency and satisfy consumers.