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Point of Focus
- Pontes links private blockchain platforms to the Eurosystem’s Target infrastructure.
- Deutsche Bank, Santander, and 11 other institutions joined the initial rollout.
- The platform settles tokenized assets using risk-free central bank money.
The European Central Bank (ECB) has launched Pontes, a new platform allowing financial institutions to settle transactions involving tokenized assets directly in central bank money.
Introduced on Monday, Pontes connects private distributed ledger technology platforms with the Eurosystem’s Target payment infrastructure.
The service enables delivery-versus-payment settlement, ensuring that tokenized securities and payments change hands simultaneously.
ECB President Christine Lagarde described the system as a “digital euro made available for banks,” positioning it as a major step in Europe’s strategy to modernize wholesale financial markets.
Deutsche Bank and Santander join launch
Thirteen institutions have completed onboarding and can begin using Pontes immediately. Participants include Deutsche Bank, Santander, Société Générale, German development bank KfW, and the European Investment Bank.
Four distributed ledger operators, including Clearstream and Axiology, have also joined the initial rollout.
⚡️BREAKING: 🇪🇺 The DIGITAL EURO will be launched TODAY for Banks. — President of ECB, Christine Lagarde
The ERA of TOKENIZATION begins TODAY in EUROPE!🔥 pic.twitter.com/GDYoL89EwD
— JackTheRippler ©️ (@RippleXrpie) September 21, 2026
The platform addresses one of the principal barriers to institutional adoption of tokenized securities: the lack of a risk-free settlement asset. Blockchain-based trades have often relied on commercial bank deposits or stablecoins, exposing participants to potential credit and counterparty risks.
Pontes instead settles the cash side of transactions using reserves held at the central bank. This allows institutions to trade tokenized bonds, stocks and other instruments while retaining the security of existing central bank infrastructure.
ECB plans tokenized securities purchases
The ECB also plans to use Pontes for its own investments. The central bank has started preparatory work to allocate a small portion of its own-funds portfolio to tokenized securities.
Initial purchases would focus on euro-denominated debt issued by eurozone governments, regional authorities, public agencies, and European supranational institutions.
The ECB did not disclose how much it intends to invest or when purchases will begin.
The portfolio sits outside monetary policy operations and generates income used to cover the ECB’s operating expenses.
🚨 JUST IN: Christine Lagarde just launched Pontes and one of its four day-one platforms runs on $XRP Ledger technology. 🇪🇺 https://t.co/uhugRY40Fa pic.twitter.com/dl5yS1lDYT
— RippleXity (@RippleXity) September 21, 2026
Edwin Mata, CEO and co-founder of Brickken, told AlphaWire, “Europe is moving in the same US direction from a different part of the financial system.”
“The architecture is important. Pontes supports two settlement routes: cash tokens on the Eurosystem DLT platform or direct settlement through T2, its real-time gross settlement system. It also supports delivery-versus-payment transactions, allowing the movement of the asset and cash legs to be synchronized. At the initial stage, legal settlement finality remains anchored in T2,” Mata added.
“Over time, the ECB has indicated that Pontes could move further, including longer operating hours, settlement finality directly on the Eurosystem DLT platform, and smart-contract functionality.”
“I think this gets to one of the biggest issues in institutional tokenization. Creating the digital asset is only one side of the transaction. Institutions also need a trusted cash leg, legal finality, and infrastructure that can move the asset and payment together. Without that, tokenization can improve issuance but still leave settlement dependent on disconnected systems. Pontes starts addressing that directly,” Mata told AlphaWire.
“Tokenized assets become much more useful when the settlement infrastructure underneath them can move at the same speed as the asset itself.”
Full Pontes rollout expected by 2028
Pontes will initially operate with limited hours and functionality aligned with existing European market infrastructure. The ECB expects to introduce longer operating hours and additional features before reaching full capability in 2028.
The project forms part of Europe’s effort to compete in tokenized finance as US institutions experiment with round-the-clock blockchain markets and privately issued stablecoins.
🚨THE ECB IS NOW BUILDING THE BRIDGE BETWEEN TOKENISED ASSETS AND CENTRAL-BANK MONEY!
Today the European Central Bank's Project Pontes officially goes live!
This allows eligible institutions to begin settling blockchain based financial transactions in central-bank money.… pic.twitter.com/X6fgfIZYhR
— ALLINCRYPTO (@RealAllinCrypto) September 21, 2026
However, Pontes remains separate from the consumer-facing digital euro. Pontes serves banks and wholesale markets, while the digital euro would allow individuals to make everyday payments using central bank money.
European lawmakers are still negotiating the retail project’s legal framework. If the planned timetable holds, a pilot involving 36 payment providers could begin in September 2027, with the first digital euro issuance possible in 2029.
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