In a keynote speech, ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone set out the European Central Bank’s payments modernisation agenda, combining preparations for a digital euro with work to enable settlement of distributed ledger technology (DLT) transactions in central bank money. The ECB also released an outcome report with initial results from its digital euro innovation platform. The speech referenced the Eurosystem’s updated oversight approach, including requirements under the SIPS Regulation, the PISA framework and the CROE cyber resilience expectations. On wholesale market innovation, Cipollone described testing with 60 industry participants on interoperability between private DLT platforms and Eurosystem market infrastructures across securities and payments use cases, including an EU sovereign’s first DLT-based digital bond issuance. He outlined a dual-track approach via Project Pontes, which will link market DLT platforms with TARGET Services to support central bank money settlement from 2026, and Project Appia, which will explore longer-term models such as a shared ledger integrating different forms of money and assets or a network of interoperable platforms. On the digital euro, the outcome report reflects work with close to 70 participants and highlights prospective features and services including conditional payments enabled by reservation of funds, encrypted e-receipts, voice-initiated and conversational AI payments, and automated business-to-business payment flows, alongside plans to incorporate privacy-enhancing techniques. Cipollone also flagged Europe’s fragmented retail payments landscape and potential financial stability and monetary policy transmission risks from stablecoins, noting the predominance of US dollar-denominated stablecoins. The ECB will use participant feedback to refine and expand the digital euro innovation platform, with concrete activities likely to be announced in early 2026, alongside continued work to enable DLT settlement in central bank money in 2026.
European Central Bank 2025-09-26
European Central Bank publishes digital euro innovation platform results and outlines 2026 plans for DLT settlement in central bank money
In a keynote speech, ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone outlined the ECB's payments modernisation agenda, focusing on a digital euro and DLT transaction settlement in central bank money. The ECB released a report from its digital euro innovation platform, highlighting features like conditional payments and AI-enabled transactions. Cipollone also discussed interoperability testing between private DLT platforms and Eurosystem infrastructures, and flagged risks from stablecoins in Europe's retail payments landscape.