🇪🇺URGENT: ECB launches “Digital Euro” for banks as Pontes begins a pilot of tokenized finance.
The President of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, announces that the ECB is launching today Pontes, a platform that will connect private blockchain networks to the TARGET system, allowing banks to settle tokenized assets directly in central bank money.
“It's the digital euro made available to banks,” says the ECB, enabling institutions to carry out transactions using tokenized assets and DLT “more quickly, without friction,” it adds.
Pontes is the first step toward the ECB’s broader Appia ecosystem for tokenized financial markets, while tests of the digital euro for consumers are planned for mid-2027.
The President of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, announces that the ECB is launching today Pontes, a platform that will connect private blockchain networks to the TARGET system, allowing banks to settle tokenized assets directly in central bank money.
“It's the digital euro made available to banks,” says the ECB, enabling institutions to carry out transactions using tokenized assets and DLT “more quickly, without friction,” it adds.
Pontes is the first step toward the ECB’s broader Appia ecosystem for tokenized financial markets, while tests of the digital euro for consumers are planned for mid-2027.