Today the European Central Bank (ECB) officially launched Pontes, the Eurosystem’s solution for settling tokenized transactions in central bank money, sometimes loosely described as wholesale CBDC. Simultaneously, the ECB announced plans to invest some of its own funds in tokenized securities in order to gain experience in using DLT, including for trade execution, settlement and portfolio management. It will be targeting securities issued by governments, agencies and supranational organizations, but at this stage is still conducting preparatory work before proceeding.
Piero Cipollone, member of the ECB’s Executive Board, talked about helping tokenized markets grow, noting that central bank money “will give an important advantage to help it scale.” The ECB’s willingness to invest will also be perceived as supporting the same objective.
At launch, the four previously announced DLT operators have onboarded, including startups Axiology and Cashlink alongside Deutsche Börse’s Clearstream and bank-backed SWIAT. Three of the platforms are German, with a similar geographic pattern seen in the participant list. The exception is Lithuania’s Axiology, a licensed DLT Pilot Regime platform run by former central banker Marius Jurgilas, who echoed Cipollone’s viewpoint. “Giving institutions a way to settle tokenised securities in central bank money removes one of the biggest practical barriers to broader adoption,” said Jurgilas. “Institutions no longer have to choose between using new DLT infrastructure and settling in central bank money.”
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