The Eurosystem has taken a concrete step toward digital wholesale markets by launching Pontes, a service that lets tokenised asset trades settle in central bank money. The rollout is the first operational piece of a broader plan to keep official reserves at the centre of Europe’s evolving tokenised financial system.
Tokenization converts securities and other claims into digital tokens recorded on distributed ledgers.
In wholesale markets that approach can compress issuance, trading, settlement, custody and servicing into a single automated workflow, often using smart contracts.
Market participants have long said that without a risk-free cash leg those platforms would remain fragmented and limited in scale.
Pontes answers that demand by linking private DLT networks to the Eurosystem’s existing TARGET infrastructure so the cash side of a transaction can be completed in reserves rather than commercial bank money or private tokens.
The project rests on exploratory work conducted in 2024.
Public and private institutions tested DLT settlement of central bank money and concluded that access to a risk-free asset was essential for wider adoption.
Pontes begins with a limited set of core functions. Additional capabilities and longer operating hours will be added in stages, with a complete offering targeted for 2028.
Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, framed the initiative as part of an effort to build a more integrated, innovative and resilient European market in the digital era, developed in close cooperation with industry.
Piero Cipollone, a member of the ECB Executive Board, said Pontes introduces the stability and trust of central bank money into the tokenised ecosystem and thereby gives it a better chance to grow.
An initial cohort of banks and DLT operators has already completed onboarding and can begin using the service at once.
Further institutions have committed to join in the months ahead.
Officials interpret that early interest as evidence that Europe can stay at the forefront of the shift in financial services.
The Eurosystem has pledged to keep refining Pontes as market requirements and technology change.
A parallel, longer-horizon programme called Appia continues alongside Pontes.
It brings together the Eurosystem,
Danmarks Nationalbank and public- and private-sector partners to design a fully integrated DLT-based wholesale ecosystem, with a blueprint expected by 2028.
Together the two initiatives aim to ensure that central bank money remains the anchor of the monetary system even as assets and payments move onto new ledgers.
By providing a public, risk-free settlement asset on-chain, the Eurosystem seeks to reduce fragmentation, support innovation and preserve monetary sovereignty as tokenised finance expands. The launch of Pontes marks the transition from testing to live operations and sets the stage for gradual, market-driven expansion through the rest of the decade.
