The Central Bank of Ireland published a Governor’s blog alongside a discussion paper on distributed ledger technology (DLT) and tokenisation, framing them as part of a broader effort to modernise Europe’s payment and settlement infrastructure while preserving central bank money as the anchor for trust and settlement as financial activity moves on-chain. The discussion paper maps potential benefits and use cases across markets, funds and payments, and highlights key “enablers” needed for scalable adoption, including legal and regulatory clarity (notably on ownership, settlement finality and smart-contract enforceability), interoperability and standards, operational resilience, digital identity and accountable governance. It also flags risks such as new concentrations of control, smart-contract and oracle dependencies, bridge vulnerabilities, liquidity and leverage amplification in hybrid tokenised and legacy arrangements, and challenges for supervision and perimeter consistency. Sector discussion includes Irish-authorised funds, with tokenised money market funds cited as growing from roughly USD 770 million in assets at end-2023 to almost USD 10 billion by end-December 2025, and payments initiatives that link tokenisation to Eurosystem work on a digital euro and wholesale DLT settlement, including the Pontes and Appia tracks and the planned Pontes pilot by the end of the third quarter of 2026. Stakeholders are invited to submit written responses to the discussion questions by 5 June 2026, with an intention to publish contributions unless confidentiality is requested and to issue a feedback statement covering some or all topics raised.
Central Bank of Ireland 2026-04-02
Central Bank of Ireland opens discussion on DLT and tokenisation and sets out priorities for Europe’s digital asset and payments infrastructure
The Central Bank of Ireland has published a Governor’s blog and discussion paper on distributed ledger technology and tokenisation, framing them within efforts to modernise Europe’s payment and settlement infrastructure while keeping central bank money as the settlement anchor as activity moves on-chain. The paper sets out potential benefits and use cases across markets, funds and payments, key enablers such as legal clarity, interoperability, resilience, digital identity and governance, and risks including new concentrations of control, smart-contract and bridge vulnerabilities, liquidity and leverage amplification, and supervisory challenges. It also notes the rapid growth of tokenised money market funds and links payments initiatives to Eurosystem work on a digital euro and wholesale DLT settlement, including the Pontes and Appia tracks and a planned Pontes pilot by end-Q3 2026.