ECB Launches Pontes to Settle Tokenized Assets in Central Bank Money

The European Central Bank on September 21 launched Pontes, a platform that lets banks and other eligible financial institutions settle tokenized asset transactions in central bank money. The same day, the regulator said it will invest part of its own reserves in tokenized securities. Those purchases will settle through the new platform.

What the ECB launched

ECB President Christine Lagarde announced the go-live at a Eurogroup meeting on Friday, September 18. The platform started running on Monday. According to CoinDesk, it links market distributed ledger (DLT) platforms to the Eurosystem's TARGET Services, which run the bloc's payment infrastructure.

Access is limited to eligible financial institutions and market infrastructure providers. Ordinary users do not connect to Pontes.

The platform is part of a broader ECB effort to keep central bank money at the core of European financial markets, which are increasingly tokenized. It will be developed in stages.

Tokenized bonds, funds and other assets need a reliable way to settle the cash side of a trade. Without Pontes, European institutions would have to rely only on stablecoins or tokenized commercial bank deposits. Now there is a third option, central bank money. Cointelegraph describes the platform as an alternative to private settlement assets.

"Now, Pontes is, to summarize it quickly for you, it's a digital euro made available for banks so that they can transact amongst themselves using tokenized assets and distributed ledger technology."

- Christine Lagarde, ECB President, remarks at the Eurogroup meeting on September 18, 2026

Which services are available now

At launch, Pontes offers a core set of services. The ECB will expand the list of services and extend operating hours step by step, and new participants will join the platform. Full implementation is planned for 2028.

The platform builds on the Eurosystem's 2024 tests, in which DLT-based transactions were settled in central bank money. According to the ECB, test participants named access to a risk-free settlement asset as decisive for wider adoption of tokenized finance. Tokenization represents assets as digital tokens, typically on distributed ledger networks. The regulator says it can make wholesale transactions faster and more efficient. Issuance, trading, settlement, custody and servicing come together on a single platform, and smart contracts automate the processes.

Pontes is only the first part of the Eurosystem's strategy for bringing central bank money into tokenized finance. The longer horizon belongs to Appia, an initiative for an integrated environment for DLT-based financial services. The ECB expects its blueprint by 2028.

ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone said Pontes adds the stability and trust of central bank money to European tokenized markets and should help them scale.

The ECB's own tokenized bond investments

The second announcement concerns the regulator's own money. The ECB plans to put a small part of its reserves into euro-denominated tokenized securities and gain direct exposure to blockchain-based markets. The bank wants to test the technology as an investor, from buying tokenized bonds to settlement and portfolio management. The ECB has not named dates for the first purchases.

Initial investments will focus on euro-denominated debt from these issuers:

• euro-area governments
• regional authorities
• government agencies
• European supranational institutions

The purchases will settle in central bank money through Pontes. The ECB's Executive Board will decide the size, timing and operational details once preparatory work is complete. Much will depend on how issuance of tokenized securities and the wider tokenized finance market in Europe develop. The ECB has not disclosed how much it will invest.

Tokenized bonds are already being issued outside Europe. On Monday, South Korea's Hana Bank placed a five-year, $100 million digital bond on Euroclear's blockchain platform, Yonhap reported. According to CoinDesk, it is the first time a Korean financial institution has worked directly with the infrastructure of Euroclear, the Brussels-based securities depository. Hana Bank ranks second in South Korea by client assets, with nearly $500 billion under management. Settlement finished on the issuance date, while the conventional route takes three to five business days. The bond connects to Euroclear's existing settlement network, so investors can trade it through their current accounts. Standard Chartered was the sole lead manager. South Korea is preparing a full framework for tokenized securities for February 2027.

The digital euro and stablecoins

The retail digital euro is developing separately. In July, the ECB selected 36 banks and payment firms for a one-year pilot that starts in the second half of 2027. The ECB and 19 national central banks of the euro area will take part. Over 12 months the pilot will test a beta version of the digital euro on online and offline transfers between people, in-store payments and e-commerce purchases. Last week the ECB also invited merchants to join. Isadora Arredondo of Hedera told CoinDesk that merchant acceptance of the digital euro is a commercial question as much as a policy one, since consumers will not use it without enough places to spend it. Issuance is possible in 2029.

The European Parliament is still debating the digital euro law, but the ECB is pushing the project forward. According to CoinDesk, the regulator sees the growth of dollar stablecoins such as Tether (USDT) and USDC as a threat to Europe's monetary autonomy. In the US, a group of 21 financial institutions, including Bank of America, Citi and Goldman Sachs, announced a joint venture to issue a stablecoin in early September.

The next steps are known. The Executive Board will set the size and timing of the investments, Pontes will add services through 2028, and the digital euro pilot starts in 2027. The digital euro law, for its part, still has to clear the European Parliament.