ECB Launches ‘Pontes’ Settlement Network for Tokenized Assets, Bypassing Stablecoins — BigGo Finance
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The European Central Bank (ECB) has launched ‘Pontes,’ a system that allows financial institutions to settle tokenized asset transactions using central bank money without going through private payment assets such as stablecoins.
The ECB officially announced the activation of Pontes on the 21st (local time) as part of the Eurosystem’s tokenized finance strategy. The service will initially focus on core functionalities, with plans to gradually expand the scope of services, operating hours, and participating institutions through 2028.
Pontes is designed to enable the use of central bank money for the settlement and clearing of wholesale tokenized asset transactions between financial institutions. Tokenization is a method of representing assets as digital tokens, typically executed on distributed ledger technology (DLT) networks. The ECB explained that when issuance, trading, settlement, custody, and servicing are integrated on a single platform with automation enabled through smart contracts, wholesale transactions can be processed faster and more efficiently.
Piero Cipollone, member of the ECB Executive Board, said, “Pontes brings the stability and trust of central bank money to Europe’s tokenized finance ecosystem,” adding that it “will provide important advantages for scaling.”
The system was built on the foundation of the Eurosystem’s 2024 experiments on settling DLT-based transactions using central bank money. At that time, participating institutions assessed that access to risk-free settlement assets is critical for the expansion of tokenized finance.
Separate from Pontes, the ECB is also pursuing the ‘Appia’ project, which aims to connect DLT-based financial services within a single environment. Appia is a complementary initiative exploring an integrated ecosystem, with a blueprint expected to be developed by 2028.
The launch of Pontes is interpreted as part of a broader push by European financial authorities to expand the central bank’s role in tokenized financial infrastructure. The strategy aims to reduce dependence on privately issued assets such as stablecoins and position public settlement instruments as the foundation of the tokenization ecosystem.
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