In February the European Central Bank announced plans for a two track Eurosystem solution to enable the wholesale settlement of DLT transactions in central bank money. Now the ECB has decided that the short term solution, Pontes, will only be available for pilots by the end of Q3 2026, which will disappoint many in the industry as they might consider this medium term. Pontes is Latin for bridges. (This article has been updated following the formal announcement).
However, given the lengthy wait, a key concession is that the central bank will consider proposals for further trials and experiments in the interim.
Last year the ECB ran a successful exploration that involved three separate solutions used by 64 institutional participants and involving €1.6 billion in settlements. Some had hoped that the pilot would be allowed to continue in order to avoid losing momentum. Now it seems there will be a roughly two year gap between the two initiatives. One industry participant highlighted that the delay is even longer given live trials were performed with Germany’s Trigger solution in early 2021. This wait will prompt questions about interim arrangements.
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