1. SWIFT – The old king of the financial system
Nature:
Global interbank messaging network
Not a direct transfer of money, only sends payment messages
Advantages:
Used by over 11,000 banks
High legal compliance
Compatible with the current financial system
Limitations:
Slow (1–5 days)
High fees, many intermediaries
Difficult to innovate
👉 SWIFT is strong on legal aspects, weak on user experience
2. Ripple (XRP) – Blockchain created for banks
Nature:
Blockchain specialized for payments
XRP acts as a bridge currency
Advantages:
Fast transactions (3–5 seconds)
Low fees
Bank-friendly design
Cross-border liquidity support
Limitations:
Dependent on bank acceptance
XRP price volatility
Legal history has been controversial
👉 Ripple wants to upgrade SWIFT, not to dismantle it
3. Tron – The global stablecoin factory
Nature:
Public blockchain, low cost
USDT on Tron accounts for a large share of crypto remittance transactions
Advantages:
Extremely low fees
Fast speed
Large USDT liquidity
Popular in emerging markets
Limitations:
Decentralization is not high
Few compliance factors
More suited for B2C than B2B
👉 Tron is the “highway” for USDT, but lacks legal framework
4. Plasma – Optimized blockchain for stablecoins & payments
Nature:
Blockchain specialized for stablecoin payments
Designed for cross-border payments
Advantages:
High speed, low fees
Optimized for stablecoins (USD, EUR…)
Transparent, easy to audit
Easy integration for fintech & businesses
Limitations:
The ecosystem is still new
Needs time to prove scale and reliability
👉 Plasma aims for a payment experience “like Web2 but using Web3”