
ECB Launches Pontes to Settle Tokenised Assets in Central Bank Money
The European Central Bank has introduced Pontes, a settlement system linking its payment infrastructure to blockchain-based markets, with full implementation targeted for 2028.
AfroEuropa Newsroom
AfroEuropa desk
The European Central Bank has launched Pontes, a settlement system that lets wholesale transactions in tokenised financial assets be settled using central bank money, according to BitKE. The move advances the Eurosystem's efforts to bring distributed-ledger technology into European financial markets.
Pontes is intended to give banks and other market participants access to risk-free central bank money when settling transactions involving assets recorded on-chain. The ECB said this was a requirement identified during Eurosystem trials of distributed-ledger technology conducted in 2024.
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