ECB Launches Pontes For Central-Bank Settlement Of Tokenized Assets

TL;DR The European Central Bank has launched Pontes, a wholesale settlement service for tokenized financial assets. Pontes settles transactions in central-bank money through TARGET Services and DLT interoperability. The system is institutional infrastructure and is separate from the retail digital-euro project. The European Central Bank has launched Pontes, giving institutions a new route for settling tokenized financial assets in central-bank money. The September 21 launch is part of the Eurosystem’s effort to connect distributed-ledger markets with existing central-bank settlement infrastructure. Pontes Connects Tokenized Assets To TARGET Services Pontes is designed for wholesale financial-market activity rather than consumer payments. The system links tokenized asset platforms with TARGET Services, allowing transactions involving distributed-ledger technology to settle against central-bank money. That distinction is important because Pontes is not a retail digital euro and should not be understood as one. Instead, it is infrastructure aimed at financial institutions that want the settlement certainty of central-bank money while using tokenized securities or other DLT-based marke...