ECB’s Pontes Goes Live as Appia Opens Next Phase for Banks

Pontes has been live since 21 September 2026, allowing distributed-ledger technology transactions to settle in euro central bank money, according to a European Central Bank presentation published on 21 October. Executive Board member Piero Cipollone’s slides for the Italian Banking Association set out how banks can participate in that service and help design a broader tokenised financial ecosystem through Appia.

The presentation, “Pontes and Appia: unlocking opportunities for banks”, describes tokenisation as entering an early adoption phase after experimentation. It points to changes already introduced in settlement and collateral eligibility, while distinguishing those developments from proposed regulatory changes and future design work.

The source document is available at https://www.ecb.europa.eu//press/key/date/2026/html/ecb.sp261021_1~d190f2c349.en.pdf. Its operational milestones and assessments are institution-reported; it does not provide transaction volumes or measured cost savings for Pontes.

Settlement and collateral move beyond trials

Alongside the Pontes launch, the presentation identifies another operational change: since March 2026, DLT-based assets issued in central securities depositories can be mobilised as eligible collateral in Eurosystem credit operations. That is a specified category of assets, not a statement that every tokenised instrument qualifies.

European central securities depositories have also introduced services for DLT-issued securities alongside their existing infrastructure, the slides say. Engagement with European sovereign issuers indicates substantial interest in exploring tokenised issuance, although the presentation does not identify individual issuers or quantify prospective issuance.

Cipollone’s presentation places these developments in a wider international context. It cites December 2025 US Securities and Exchange Commission staff no-action relief allowing DTCC to tokenise existing securities for three years, and a Eurogroup+ statement on digital finance dated 9 July 2026.

What banks could gain—and what remains a proposition

The slides describe potential benefits across issuance, trading, settlement and asset servicing. Fewer intermediaries and manual processes could lower issuance costs, while fractional ownership could broaden the investor base. Easier capital-market access for small and medium-sized enterprises is presented as another possible gain.

For trading and settlement, the central mechanism is an all-or-nothing exchange of securities and cash through programmable smart contracts. This is intended to reduce counterparty and settlement risk. Shared or interconnected ledgers could also reduce the need to reconcile separate records.

In asset servicing, smart contracts could automate coupon payments, redemptions and corporate actions. Faster intraday movement of collateral could allow smaller liquidity buffers. These are benefits outlined in the presentation, rather than quantified outcomes demonstrated by the new service.

The slides also describe round-the-clock, seamless transactions as a broader benefit of tokenisation. They do not establish that Pontes itself currently operates continuously.

Appia targets integration rather than another fragmented market

The Eurosystem’s concern is that tokenisation could reproduce, or add to, the fragmentation of European capital markets. The presentation links the current fragmented structure to higher costs and shallower, less liquid markets, describing it as an obstacle to the savings and investments union.

Its proposed direction is a network of interoperable ledgers built around common European standards, with central bank money providing a settlement anchor. European strategic autonomy is an explicit objective.

The public-private division of responsibility is also clear: the public sector supplies the monetary anchor and framework, while market participants develop innovative services. The presentation says central bank money in tokenised wholesale finance should complement private settlement assets, not simply displace them.

Existing permissions differ from proposed reforms

The presentation distinguishes the EU DLT Pilot Regime already in force from changes proposed under the market integration and supervision package. Under the existing regime, authorised structures can combine trading, settlement and recording, with different eligibility rules for investment firms, market operators and central securities depositories.

It notes that, within the pilot framework operating since March 2023, recording and settling tokenised securities need not always require a central securities depository licence. Pilot-regime infrastructures can connect to Pontes for settlement in central bank money.

Separately, the proposed framework includes DLT notary and account-keeping or settlement arrangements. These would open additional routes for initial recording and settlement without the conventional depository structure. The slides identify these as proposals, not permissions already in force.

Banks invited into Appia design work from 2027

User experience and feedback will guide further development of Pontes. For Appia, the Eurosystem lists several participation channels: the Appia Contact Group, joint work on European standards, public consultations and focus sessions for the wider market and public.

A summary of feedback on the Appia roadmap is planned for publication. From 2027, market participants are to be invited into practical work and joint design of the Appia blueprint, which is scheduled to be published by 2028. That is a blueprint deadline, not an announced launch date for a completed ecosystem.