ECB opens blockchain link to financial markets
- On Monday, September 21, 2026, the European Central Bank launched Pontes, connecting the Eurosystem's TARGET Services to blockchain-based financial markets for settling tokenized asset transactions in central bank euros.
- Last month, ECB Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel urged central banks to "go on-chain," arguing public institutions must participate directly as wholesale finance adopts tokenization to keep money "fit for the digital age."
- Deutsche Bank, Santander, and Clearstream have completed onboarding for Pontes, which initially operates between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. CET on business days; the ECB is allocating a "small portion" of its €23 billion own funds to blockchain securities.
- Unlike settlement via private stablecoins, Pontes enables institutions to use central bank money, which the ECB stated can make transactions "faster and more efficient by bundling multiple steps of an asset's lifecycle... and enabling automation."
- The ECB is developing Appia to produce a blueprint for tokenized finance across Europe, while preparing a retail digital euro pilot for 2027, with potential issuance in 2029 pending Governing Council decisions.
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ECB Connects Blockchain Markets to Central Bank Payments
The European Central Bank has launched Pontes, a service connecting its payment infrastructure with blockchain-based financial markets and enabling transactions to be settled in central bank-backed euros. The ECB also plans to invest a small portion of its own funds in highly rated, euro-denominated blockchain securities.
ECB launches 'Pontes' to settle tokenised assets in central bank money
The Eurosystem has launched Pontes, a system allowing banks to settle trades in tokenised assets using central bank money, and the ECB said it will invest some of its own funds in tokenised securities through it, the first concrete steps towards making the euro fit for the digital age.
The New York Ledger
BitnewsbotECB launches Pontes to settle tokenized assets without stablecoins
Pontes will expand its services and operating hours gradually, with full implementation expected by 2028 and more participants set to join. The European Central Bank (ECB) launched Pontes, a system that allows financial institutions to settle wholesale tokenized asset transactions in central bank money, providing an alternative to private settlement assets such as stablecoins. The […]
ECB launches Pontes to bridge tokenized asset markets with Eurosystem payment infrastructure
Designed exclusively for regulated financial institutions, the wholesale platform ensures digital bonds and tokenized funds settle against risk-free central-bank assets rather than private stablecoins.
The ECB will invest in tokenised securities, and settle the trades on its own new rail
The European Central Bank is preparing to put some of its own money into tokenized securities, moving from building the plumbing for digital asset markets to buying in them. Settlement will occur in central bank money, routed through Pontes, the system the Eurosystem has built for trades running on distributed ledger technology. What the bank […] This story continues at The Next Web
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