The European Central Bank and the broader Eurosystem activated Pontes on 21 September 2026, giving eligible banks and market infrastructures a direct route to settle wholesale transactions in tokenized assets using central bank money. The platform links privately operated distributed ledger technology networks with the Eurosystem’s existing TARGET payment rails so that the cash leg of a trade settles in euros held at the central bank instead of stablecoins or commercial bank deposits.

Pontes forms the first operational step in the Eurosystem’s strategy to keep central bank money at the centre of an expanding tokenized finance market. It builds on exploratory work conducted between May and November 2024, when 64 public and private participants carried out more than 50 trials that processed over 1.5 billion euros in value. Those tests showed that access to a risk-free settlement asset was essential for broader institutional adoption of distributed ledger technology.

How Pontes Works and Who Is Using It

Rather than requiring every securities transaction to migrate onto a single ledger, Pontes acts as a bridge. Market DLT platforms continue to record the asset leg while the cash side is settled either through digital tokens representing central bank money on a Eurosystem ledger or via a trigger into the established TARGET2 real-time gross settlement system. At launch, legal finality for the cash movement remains anchored in TARGET2. Later phases are expected to move finality onto a Eurosystem-operated DLT and add smart-contract capabilities.

An initial group of institutions has completed onboarding and can begin using the service at once. Market participants include ABANCA, BayernLB, Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, Cecabank, Deutsche Bank, Deka Bank, DZ Bank, the European Investment Bank, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, Memo Bank, NRW.BANK, Santander and Société Générale. The four market DLT operators connected from day one are Axiology, Cashlink, Clearstream and SWIAT. The Deutsche Bundesbank has also joined in a market-participant capacity. Further participants are scheduled to connect in the coming months.

Operating hours start limited to business days, roughly between 08:00 and 16:00 Central European Time. One-off connection fees stand at 2,500 euros for market participants and 15,000 euros for DLT operators, with no monthly or per-trade charges during the initial phase. The Eurosystem plans to lengthen operating hours, introduce enhanced features and eventually support continuous availability, targeting full implementation by 2028.

Separate from the Retail Digital Euro and Linked to Longer-Term Plans

Pontes is strictly a wholesale facility aimed at banks and market infrastructures. It is distinct from the retail digital euro project intended for households and merchants. Preparations for a 12-month retail pilot involving banks, payment providers and merchants are under way for the second half of 2027, with possible issuance targeted for 2029 subject to European Union legislation and a Governing Council decision.

Work on a more integrated tokenized market infrastructure continues in parallel under the Appia initiative. That longer-term programme involves the Eurosystem, Danmarks Nationalbank and public- and private-sector stakeholders, with a blueprint expected by 2028. In August the Eurosystem selected 61 financial market participants and public institutions for an Appia contact group that will advise on both Pontes and the broader architecture.

ECB to Use Pontes for Its Own Investments

The central bank itself will become a user. It has begun preparatory work to allocate a small portion of its approximately 23 billion euro own-funds portfolio to highly rated, euro-denominated tokenized debt securities issued by euro-area governments, regional authorities, agencies and European supranational institutions. Purchases will be settled through Pontes once operational details are finalised. The move follows an earlier decision that made certain DLT-issued marketable securities eligible as collateral for Eurosystem credit operations from 30 March 2026, subject to the same eligibility criteria and haircuts applied to conventional assets.

One of the day-one DLT operators, Axiology, runs a permissioned system derived from XRP Ledger technology. Cash settlement, however, occurs exclusively in central bank euros; public XRP is not used. The platform therefore demonstrates that distributed-ledger rails can support institutional settlement while the monetary anchor remains official central bank money.

Tokenisation is expected to combine issuance, trading, settlement, custody and servicing into more automated workflows. By providing a risk-free cash leg, Pontes aims to remove a key barrier that participants identified during the 2024 trials and to support the orderly growth of tokenized wholesale markets within the existing regulatory and payment framework of the euro area.