In an opinion piece, European Central Bank Executive Board member Piero Cipollone outlined how the Eurosystem’s Pontes and Appia initiatives are intended to enable safe settlement of tokenised wholesale financial transactions in euro central bank money. The update included a plan to provide an initial settlement pathway under Pontes in the third quarter of 2026 and the publication of a roadmap for Appia. Pontes is set to deliver this initial capability by connecting TARGET Services to distributed ledger technology (DLT) platforms, allowing DLT-based wholesale transactions to settle in central bank money. Appia is positioned as a public-private design process for a next-generation European financial infrastructure, aiming for central bank money to be more directly integrated on tokenisation platforms and developed through experiments, proofs of concept and common standards; the roadmap is intended to guide ongoing enhancements of Pontes and steer market-led infrastructure solutions that support competition, integration and innovation. The initial Pontes connectivity is expected in the third quarter of 2026, while Appia’s final design is to be shaped through the planned collaboration with market participants.
European Central Bank 2026-03-12
European Central Bank publishes Appia roadmap and plans Q3 2026 Pontes link to settle DLT wholesale transactions in central bank money
ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone outlined the Eurosystem’s Pontes and Appia initiatives for safe settlement of tokenised wholesale transactions in euro central bank money. Pontes will link TARGET Services to distributed ledger technology platforms by Q3 2026, while Appia will create next-generation European financial infrastructure through public-private collaboration. The roadmap will enhance Pontes and support market-led infrastructure solutions.