The European Central Bank (ECB) will invest a small portion of its own funds in tokenized securities as the central bank moves to gain direct experience with on-chain financial markets.

The ECB said it had begun preparations for investments in Euro-denominated securities issued by euro area governments, agencies, and European supranational institutions. The purchases will be settled through Pontes, the Eurosystem’s new system for settling tokenized assets using central bank money.

 

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In a press release, the ECB said:

The European Central Bank (ECB) has launched preparatory work to invest a small portion of its own funds in tokenised securities.

This will enable the ECB to gain practical experience as an investor and build institutional expertise in the use of distributed ledger technology (DLT) in financial markets. The own funds portfolio is a non-monetary policy portfolio that provides the ECB with income to help fund operating expenses, excluding those related to the delivery of its supervisory tasks.

Tokenised financial markets continue to evolve, alongside the development of new DLT-based market infrastructures.

By investing directly, the ECB will gain first-hand experience across the full investment lifecycle, including trade execution, settlement, systems and portfolio management activities. The purchases will be settled in central bank money via Pontes. 

 

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The move gives the ECB a direct role in the emerging tokenized securities market beyond its work as a regulator and infrastructure provider. The central bank said the investments will allow it to gain practical experience across trade execution, settlement, systems and portfolio management.

Pontes, launched on September 21 2026, connects on-chain financial markets with the Eurosystem’s payment infrastructure allowing wholesale tokenized transactions to settle in central bank money rather than privately-issued stablecoins. The system will initially provide a limited set of services with broader functionality and longer operating hours expected through 2028.

The ECB said tokenization could make financial markets more efficient by bringing

  • issuance,

  • trading,

  • settlement,

  • custody, and

  • servicing

on-chain and enabling greater automation through smart contracts.

 

 

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