ECB Launches Pontes for Tokenized Asset Settlement

The Eurosystem has launched Pontes, a new infrastructure connecting distributed ledger technology platforms with its existing TARGET payment services so wholesale tokenized transactions can settle in central bank money. Pontes moved into its initial operational phase on September 21, giving participating banks and market infrastructures a live bridge between DLT-based assets and the euro area’s established settlement system.

According to the ECB’s official launch announcement, an initial group including Deutsche Bank, Santander, Société Générale, the European Investment Bank and several DLT operators had completed onboarding at launch. The current system is operational, but it represents the first stage of a broader rollout rather than the final architecture envisioned for European tokenized finance.

Pontes Connects DLT Markets to Central Bank Money

Pontes uses a dual-settlement architecture. Participants can use cash tokens on the Eurosystem DLT platform or settle through T2, its real-time gross settlement system. At the initial stage, legal settlement finality for the cash leg remains anchored in T2, with Pontes synchronizing delivery-versus-payment transactions across the relevant systems through its interoperability mechanisms.

That distinction is important because Pontes does not simply move Europe’s existing financial system onto a blockchain. Tokenized securities may exist on external DLT infrastructures while the corresponding central bank money settlement continues to interact with TARGET. The architecture connects on-chain asset infrastructure with existing central bank settlement rather than replacing the entire post-trade stack. Similar boundaries between tokenized instruments and traditional custody or settlement processes are already visible in Clearstream’s expansion into tokenized securities infrastructure.

The Eurosystem plans to expand the service significantly. ECB officials have said operating hours should first extend to 22.5 hours per business day, with 24/7 availability, greater programmability and settlement finality directly on the Eurosystem DLT targeted by mid-2028. Smart-contract functionality would eventually allow more automated financial processes to run closer to the central bank settlement layer.

ECB Prepares Its Own Tokenized Securities Investments

Pontes will also be used by the ECB itself. In a separate official announcement on September 21, the central bank said it had begun preparatory work to invest a small portion of its own-funds portfolio in tokenized securities. No investment allocation has yet been executed or scheduled publicly, with the Executive Board still responsible for determining timing and operational details after the preparatory phase.

The initial investment universe is expected to cover euro-denominated securities issued by euro-area central and regional governments, public agencies and European supranational institutions. The purchases would settle through Pontes, allowing the ECB to gain direct experience with trading, settlement, systems and portfolio management involving tokenized assets. The initiative concerns the ECB’s non-monetary-policy own-funds portfolio, not monetary-policy asset purchases.

That practical experiment arrives as institutional tokenization moves beyond issuance alone. Tokenized funds are increasingly being connected to lending and collateral markets, including the Neuberger Berman HINC fund’s proposed use in Aave Horizon, while central banks elsewhere are testing how tokenized commercial-bank money interacts with public settlement infrastructure, as seen in the Bank of Korea’s deposit-token settlement program. Pontes addresses the settlement layer of that transition rather than token issuance itself.

Alongside Pontes, the Eurosystem is developing Appia as its longer-term architectural program. Appia is evaluating whether Europe’s future tokenized market should operate through a shared DLT utility, multiple interconnected networks or some combination of the two. A blueprint is expected by 2028, with operational lessons from Pontes feeding directly into that design process.

Pontes therefore marks a concrete shift from experimentation toward operational central-bank settlement for tokenized markets, but not the completion of Europe’s DLT transition. The current system bridges new asset infrastructure with TARGET today while the Eurosystem determines how much settlement, programmability and market infrastructure should ultimately move onto DLT itself.