The European Central Bank (ECB) has launched Pontes, a settlement tool that allows wholesale transactions in tokenized assets to be settled using central bank money. Announced in a press release on Sept. 21, 2026, the launch places the Eurosystem's settlement infrastructure directly behind Europe's tokenized financial markets, giving banks and market infrastructures a new route to settle blockchain-based wholesale transactions with a central-bank settlement asset.

According to the ECB, the system was put through Eurosystem tests in 2024 covering approximately €1.6 billion across 50 trials.

Pontes Connects Tokenized Markets to Central Bank Money

Pontes is designed to connect market-based distributed ledger technology (DLT) platforms with TARGET Services, the Eurosystem's existing infrastructure for settling euro payments and securities transactions. Its first use case is to effect the settlement of wholesale trades in tokenized assets in central bank money. The ECB positions the launch as addressing one of the key challenges of tokenized finance: settling digital securities in full without relying on private settlement assets.

Tokenization is the process of creating a digital representation, or token, of financial or real-world assets on DLT networks. It can align issuance, trading, settlement and other parts of the transaction lifecycle, with smart contracts used to automate processes in wholesale markets.

Pontes builds on exploratory work carried out in 2024. In 50 trials conducted by the Eurosystem across nine jurisdictions, transactions worth around €1.6 billion were processed, and participants said easy access to a risk-free central bank settlement asset is vital for the broad adoption of DLT-based markets. Central bank money is viewed as a risk-free settlement asset because it represents a direct claim on the central bank. For the institutions settling through the new tool, that means the final claim in a tokenized transaction sits with the Eurosystem rather than with a private settlement provider.

Banks and DLT Operators Join the Initial Rollout

Pontes is rolling out through an incremental onboarding process rather than a mass consumer launch. The ECB said an initial cohort of financial firms and DLT operators has already been fully onboarded and can use the system. The group includes banks such as Deutsche Bank, Santander and Société Générale, as well as market infrastructures including Clearstream and SWIAT. The ECB expects more to join over the coming months as onboarding continues in stages.

Pontes Expands Through 2028

The first version of Pontes offers a core set of services along with additional capabilities, and its features and hours of operation will be expanded gradually. The ECB aims to have the system in full use by 2028. The pace of new onboarding, the widening of services and operating hours, and the start of the ECB's own tokenized purchases are the milestones to watch as the system moves toward full use.

Pontes also forms part of a broader Eurosystem agenda for tokenized finance. The complementary Appia initiative is working on the longer-term design of an integrated DLT-based European financial services ecosystem, with a blueprint envisioned for 2028.

The ECB has also been preparing to hold a small amount of its own assets in tokenized securities. It plans to carry out those purchases using Pontes, beginning with euro-denominated bonds issued by public-sector and European supranational entities. Once under way, those purchases would make the Eurosystem both the operator of Pontes and a user of it.

The launch places the central bank's settlement infrastructure at the heart of Europe's crypto and tokenized-asset markets, providing institutional participants with another foundation on which to build and settle digital asset transactions. The transition from the 2024 exploratory phase to a live service marks a shift from testing to production for the Eurosystem's DLT settlement plans.

Source: Crypto Ninjas