ECB’s Pontes brings central bank euros to tokenized-asset markets

The ECB has put central bank money onto tokenized-asset markets before its retail digital euro reaches consumers. Pontes connects private blockchains and distributed-ledger platforms to the Eurosystem’s TARGET infrastructure, so banks can settle tokenized assets directly in central bank euros instead of relying on privately issued stablecoins.

That makes Pontes a wholesale system for bank-to-bank transactions, not a consumer payments launch. It is also the first step toward the ECB’s broader Appia ecosystem, while consumer-facing digital euro testing is planned for mid-2027.