ECB Pontes and Appia: What the Eurosystem’s DLT Settlement Strategy Means for Tokenised Capital Markets

This week, the European Central Bank is hosting a public focus session on wholesale central bank money (wCBDC) settlement for DLT-based transactions. The session provides a consolidated update on its Pontes (short-term track) and Appia (long-term track) initiatives.

Pontes connects regulated market DLT platforms with TARGET Services, allowing settlement either via cash tokens issued on the Eurosystem DLT or directly in T2, with finality anchored in central bank money.

A pilot is expected by Q3 2026, with testing anticipated to open in July 2026. Market participants will gain clarity on eligibility, operational set-up, and testing strategy during the focus session.

Why Central Bank Money Matters for Tokenised Securities

For tokenised bonds and other high-trust instruments, the settlement asset is as important as the ledger itself. While stablecoins enable flexibility, they introduce counterparty and liquidity risks that central bank money avoids.

Pontes addresses this integration gap, ensuring tokenised securities can settle securely within the Eurosystem framework. Without central bank money, DLT settlement remains operationally isolated from core market infrastructure.

Pontes focuses on near-term connectivity. Appia, by contrast, explores a more integrated and native central bank money ecosystem for distributed ledger infrastructure. Together, the two tracks outline the Eurosystem’s vision for the institutionalisation of tokenised capital markets across Europe.

What Market Participants Should Prepare For

Issuers, post-trade providers, and market infrastructure operators should review the upcoming focus session to understand eligibility criteria and functional requirements, operational set-up and testing expectations, and how Pontes fits into a broader Appia-led ecosystem. Aligning systems now with central bank connectivity standards will ensure readiness for Q3 2026 and beyond.

As an active participant in the Pontes Market Contact Group, Axiology operates regulated market infrastructure under a DLT Trading and Settlement Licence issued under the EU DLT Pilot Regime. We are shaping our architecture to integrate central bank money settlement into tokenised capital-market workflows, ensuring our systems are prepared for the Eurosystem’s long-term DLT initiatives.

Registration to the ECB's focus session about the latest on the Eurosystem’s work on wholesale central bank money is available via the ECB event page (subject to availability), and the recording will be published shortly afterwards.