Blockchain has gained widespread attention around the globe and has been seen as potentially disrupting the traditional banking landscape，particularly trade finance.  The innovative concept brings efficiency，decentralization，automation，and security. It has the capacity to ensure certainty in cross-border payments，enable transparency in the movement of trade assets，and facilitate the flow of trade receivables. This article aims to explore the feasibility of blockchain technologies in trade finance from the following aspects: first，comparing traditional cross-border payment forms with existing platforms by analyzing the pros and cons of traditional payment tools; second，conducting an in-depth analysis of blockchain technologies by the use of navigation of the core techniques of Ripple; third，contrasting the application of blockchain in the financial industry in China and the US，and lastly，analyzing recent developments of the application of blockchain in cross-border payments and offering some suggestions for further research.

According to a recent report by consultants McKinsey and Co.，cross-border payment flows totaled more than $150 trillion over the 2013 - 2017 period. Most of this was ultimately driven by consumers，even though it was directly generated by businesses. The payments industry recorded over $200 billion in revenue from services provided to payers and payees in 2017 alone. Currently，most cross-border payments are routed via the messaging protocol for the execution of transactions by SWIFT (the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications). Despite the great benefits generated by SWIFT，which offers a standard messaging format and a relatively secure network，many banks and their customers alike still feel that it cannot meet increasing demands in terms of efficiency，cost and security.

As financial technologies make rapid advances，FinTech companies are emerging and employing the latest distributed ledger technologies (blockchain) as well as cryptocurrencies. The term “blockchain” originally referred to the distributed ledger technology underlying the digital currency，bitcoin. Blockchain consists of a ledger shared across every computer in a given network. When one party seeks to transfer bitcoin to another party，the payer enters a security code and initiates the transaction. Then，the computers in the network use sophisticated algorithms to verify and clear the transaction. A record of the transaction is then “stored in a block which is linked to the preceding block,” thereby updating the blockchain.

The reason why blockchain can be applied to the banking industry，particularly cross-border settlement，is that it features massive capacity，better security，immutability，and faster settlement. Firstly，blockchain can increase the capacity of the network，through which large quantities of banking transactions can be processed within seconds.  Blockchain tends to have better security because there is no single point of failure to shut down the network. However，even the highest levels of our existing financial system have been vulnerable to hacks. In July 2018，for example，a Russian bank was hacked and millions of US dollars were transferred as a result of suspected vulnerabilities of the SWIFT system. The most infamous incident involved the theft of millions of dollars from the Bangladesh central bank – also via the SWIFT network. Blockchain can create immutable ledgers，which can sharply reduce the potential for fraud. Lastly，traditional cross-border payment is comparatively slow，with settlement times often taking hours or even days. This is the main reason why most financial institutions are willing to upgrade their systems. Blockchain can reduce the time required for cross-border settlement to several seconds，greatly enhancing the efficiency of business transactions.