ECB Launches Pontes For Central-Bank Settlement Of Tokenized Assets
Summary
The ECB launched Pontes on September 21 as wholesale settlement infrastructure for tokenized financial assets. It links distributed-ledger platforms with TARGET Services so institutions can settle tokenized securities and other DLT-based transactions in central-bank money. The main purpose is to provide settlement finality and cash-side reliability for market participants such as banks, issuers, asset managers, and infrastructure providers. Pontes is not a retail payment system and should not be confused with a digital euro. The move reflects a broader Eurosystem strategy: connect tokenization and blockchain-style market rails to existing central-bank settlement infrastructure rather than replace it.
