🚨🔥 BREAKING : The European Central Bank has officially launched Pontes, its wholesale digital settlement bridge, on September 21, 2026. President Christine Lagarde confirmed the go-live following the Eurogroup meeting . This platforms runs on XRP ledger. $R2 $PHA
🌉 What Pontes Does
Pontes connects distributed ledger technology (DLT) platforms to the Eurosystem's TARGET Services. This allows banks and market infrastructures to settle wholesale tokenized asset transactions directly in central bank money, rather than relying on stablecoins or commercial bank deposits .
🏦 Who Can Use It
The platform is open to eligible financial institutions and market operators, not consumers. The first group of onboarded participants includes Deutsche Bank, Santander, Société Générale, KfW, the European Investment Bank, and clearing operators like Clearstream .
📈 Key Details
· Operating Hours: Initially runs 8:00–16:00 CET on business days, with longer hours planned as features expand .
· Full Rollout: Enhanced features and longer operating hours are expected by 2028 .
· ECB as a User: The ECB also announced it will invest part of its own funds in tokenized securities, settled through Pontes .
This is separate from the retail digital euro project, which is aimed at consumer payments and is further from launch .
🌉 What Pontes Does
Pontes connects distributed ledger technology (DLT) platforms to the Eurosystem's TARGET Services. This allows banks and market infrastructures to settle wholesale tokenized asset transactions directly in central bank money, rather than relying on stablecoins or commercial bank deposits .
🏦 Who Can Use It
The platform is open to eligible financial institutions and market operators, not consumers. The first group of onboarded participants includes Deutsche Bank, Santander, Société Générale, KfW, the European Investment Bank, and clearing operators like Clearstream .
📈 Key Details
· Operating Hours: Initially runs 8:00–16:00 CET on business days, with longer hours planned as features expand .
· Full Rollout: Enhanced features and longer operating hours are expected by 2028 .
· ECB as a User: The ECB also announced it will invest part of its own funds in tokenized securities, settled through Pontes .
This is separate from the retail digital euro project, which is aimed at consumer payments and is further from launch .
