The European Central Bank has published an article in Financial Integration and Structure in the Euro Area 2026 outlining how the Eurosystem is supporting tokenisation in euro area securities markets through market infrastructure and collateral policy. It centres on the Eurosystem’s dual track programme for distributed ledger technology (DLT) settlement, with Pontes designed as a short term connection between DLT based market platforms and TARGET Services and a pilot due to start in the third quarter of 2026, while Appia is intended to produce a blueprint for a DLT based European wholesale financial market architecture by 2028. The article places these initiatives against still limited but growing market use, with around EUR 2 billion of euro denominated debt instruments showing some digital exposure at end 2025. It points to the Eurosystem’s May to November 2024 exploratory work, which tested central bank money settlement for wholesale DLT transactions through real and mock transactions, covered 58 use cases and 64 eligible participants across nine jurisdictions, and involved nearly EUR 1.6 billion in central bank money settlements. On the collateral side, the ECB notes that since 30 March 2026 the Eurosystem has accepted marketable assets issued in central securities depositories using DLT based services as eligible collateral for credit operations, provided they are available for settlement in TARGET2-Securities and meet the existing collateral framework. The article also says the Eurosystem is examining, in a staggered way, whether and under what conditions DLT issued assets that are not represented in eligible securities settlement systems could also become eligible in future, taking account of issuance and mobilisation arrangements, applicable regulation and risk management requirements.
European Central Bank 2026-05-07
European Central Bank details dual track DLT settlement programme with a third quarter 2026 Pontes pilot and a collateral pathway for DLT based assets
The European Central Bank detailed how the Eurosystem is supporting tokenisation in euro area securities markets through its dual track DLT settlement programme. Pontes will provide a short term link between DLT platforms and TARGET Services from a pilot in Q3 2026, while Appia will design a DLT based wholesale market architecture by 2028. Since 30 March 2026, DLT issued assets settled in TARGET2-Securities are eligible collateral if compliant, and the Eurosystem is gradually assessing eligibility of DLT assets outside existing systems.