Schnabel Calls for Central Banks to Go On-Chain with Tokenization Push
European Central Bank Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel called for central banks to move onto the blockchain and issue money directly 'on-chain' during her speech at the Jackson Hole symposium.
Schnabel argued that tokenization can make markets faster and safer through instant settlement and smart contract automation, and could help unify Europe's fragmented financial infrastructure.
She emphasized that stablecoins are 'best understood as complements to central bank money, not substitutes for it,' because private issuers cannot expand liquidity elastically when markets come under stress.
The ECB is advancing this shift through Project Pontes, a distributed-ledger platform due to launch next month. It will settle transactions in central bank money and demonstrate the eurozone's move towards on-chain reserves.