The European Central Bank (ECB) has rolled out Pontes, a platform designed to let financial organizations clear wholesale transactions of tokenized assets using central bank currency, serving as a substitute for private settlement instruments like stablecoins.
The ECB made public the rollout of Pontes on Monday as a component of the Eurosystem’s broader roadmap for tokenized finance. Initially, the network delivers a foundational suite of capabilities, with complete deployment anticipated by the year 2028.
Tokenization converts physical or traditional assets into digital tokens, commonly hosted on distributed ledger technology (DLT) architectures. The ECB explained that this approach could accelerate and streamline wholesale exchanges by merging issuance, trading, clearing, custody, and servicing within one unified environment, while simultaneously facilitating automated processes via smart contracts.
“Pontes infuses the European tokenized financial landscape with the security and reliability inherent to central bank funds,” noted Piero Cipollone, a member of the ECB Executive Board. “It will supply a major benefit to foster broader adoption and growth.”
The creation of Pontes stems from trials conducted by the Eurosystem in 2024 concerning the clearance of DLT-oriented trades using central bank money. According to the ECB, trial participants noted that having access to a zero-risk settlement medium is essential for the widespread expansion of tokenized finance.
Additionally, the Eurosystem is working on Appia, a parallel project investigating a unified framework for financial services based on DLT, with a strategic design plan targeted for 2028.
Related: EU finance groups push to remove tokenized securities cap
Originally published at https://cointelegraph.com/news/eurosystem-central-bank-money-tokenized-finance?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound.
