ECB Starts Tokenized Buys via New Pontes Settlement Rail
The European Central Bank (ECB) has started preparing to invest in tokenized assets from its €23.1 billion own-funds portfolio, settling through the new Pontes settlement rail that links distributed ledger technology (DLT) platforms to TARGET.
Pontes connects DLT market platforms with the Eurosystem's existing TARGET settlement services, allowing tokenized transactions to complete in central-bank money rather than commercial-bank balances. The system launched on Monday with an initial onboarding group of Deutsche Bank, Santander, Société Générale, and the European Investment Bank.
The ECB's own-funds portfolio sat at €23.1 billion at the end of 2025, with government debt accounting for 73% of the mix. The central bank has not disclosed the size of the tokenized allocation or when purchases will begin.