The ECB launches 'Project Pontes' with a single fee

The European Central Bank (ECB) has announced the launch of Project Pontes, a strategy to adapt financial infrastructure to tokenization. Scheduled for late in the third quarter of the year, Pontes will link distributed ledger technology (DLT) platforms used by the market with the Eurosystem's Target settlement services to settle wholesale transactions of tokenized assets using central bank money.

The initiative aims to bridge the gap between emerging financial technologies and traditional payment systems, enabling tokenized assets, such as securities recorded via unique digital codes, to be settled with central bank money, deemed the safest asset for concluding financial transactions. ECB member Piero Cipollone announced this at a press conference in Frankfurt, stating that Pontes will offer attractive economic conditions and a single one-time incorporation fee.

Cipollone, a member of the ECB executive committee, highlighted Pontes as one of the Eurosystem's major bets to respond to the rapid advancement of tokenization in financial markets. DLT, known for its blockchain application, enables the registration and synchronization of information across different network points without relying on a central database.

Its potential extends beyond bonds, deposits, guarantees, and other financial assets. The ECB plans to progressively expand Pontes' capabilities post-launch, increasing its operating hours to 22.5 per day and offering immediate settlement through the Eurosystem's DLT technology. The service aims to achieve 24-hour availability by mid-2028, incorporating multi-currency capacity.

This move comes at a time of robust growth in tokenized finance. According to Cipollone, tokenized traditional assets recorded on public blockchain chains have multiplied fivefold between March 2025 and March 2026. In the United States, a private platform processed an average daily median of $354 billion in repurchase operations in March, four times more than a year prior.

Europe is also accelerating its projects, with banks and financial institutions developing tokenized bonds, deposits, and settlement solutions, while central banks prepare initiatives to tokenize securities on a large scale. While technology offers significant opportunities, it also poses substantial regulatory challenges. Cipollone emphasized the need for greater clarity and legal harmonization regarding the ownership, custody, and settlement of tokenized assets.

For the ECB, technological interoperability will be insufficient without accompanying legal security. Through Pontes, the Eurosystem seeks to combine financial innovation with the safety of central bank money in digital markets.