Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson highlights the importance of ADA alignment with the global financial messaging standard ISO 20022.
In a recent X post, Hoskinson shared an infographic spotlighting cryptocurrencies that could benefit from the ISO 20022 financial messaging standard. The list included leading assets such as XRP and XLM, recognized for their focus on cross-border payments.
ADA stood out as the only token identified as a smart contract–capable asset. Meanwhile, other tokens, such as HBAR, ALGO, and QNT, were noted for their focus on institutional applications, scalable payment infrastructure, and interoperability solutions, respectively.
Cardano Founder Highlights Benefits of ISO 20022
Reacting to the development, the Cardano founder emphasized that ISO 20022 support is crucial for advancing open banking. This envisions a system where traditional banks connect with third parties, including blockchain networks, through standardized APIs and messaging formats.
Hoskinson pointed out that ISO 20022 support is imperative in bridging the gap between the traditional and decentralized finance worlds. Essentially, he views ISO 20022 as a bridge that enables blockchain-based assets to interact with traditional financial systems more seamlessly.
ISO 20022 support is essential to open banking and combining the tradFi and DeFi worlds. Ada is Glad to be holding the line with XRP, HBAR, ALGO, and others pic.twitter.com/9uZX4xgeQ3
— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) November 10, 2025
Financial Institutions Embracing ISO 20022
For context, ISO 20022, often referred to as the new global banking language, is an international standard for the electronic exchange of data between financial institutions, such as banks. It defines how payment messages and related financial data are transmitted, structured, and interpreted across different systems.
The financial messaging standard offers numerous benefits, such as greater interoperability between systems, more detailed transaction data, and faster settlement capabilities.
Several financial institutions are already compliant with the messaging standard, including Ripple, which joined ISO 20022 in 2020.
Earlier this year, the United States Federal Reserve fully embraced ISO 20022, allowing financial institutions that utilize its FedWire Funds Service to send and receive messages using the standard.
According to reports, more than 80% global financial institutions are also expected to adopt ISO 20022 before the end of this year.
Hoskinson Says Cardano Fully Supports ISO 20022
Following Cardano’s inclusion among tokens poised to benefit from the ISO 20022 standard, Hoskinson remarked that ADA is proud to “hold the line” alongside other supported assets such as XRP, XLM, and HBAR, among others.
In a follow-up comment, Hoskinson reaffirmed that the Cardano development team fully supports the ISO 20022 standard and welcomes ADA’s inclusion among the tokens positioned to benefit from it.