- Short-term track (Pontes) to pilot link between distributed ledger technology platforms and TARGET Services by end-2026
- Long-term track (Appia) to shape future-ready, innovative, integrated financial ecosystems
- Initiatives will deliver on Eurosystem’s continuing commitment to safe, efficient settlement in central bank money
The ECB’s Governing Council has approved a plan that will enable settling distributed ledger technology (DLT) transactions using central bank money. The initiative follows a two-track approach: the first track “Pontes” provides a short-term offering to the market – including a pilot phase – and the second track “Appia” focuses on a potential long-term solution. The decision is in line with the Eurosystem’s commitment to supporting innovation without compromising on safety and efficiency in financial market infrastructures.
Short-term
Pontes will offer a Eurosystem DLT-based solution, linking DLT platforms and TARGET Services to settle transactions in central bank money. The Eurosystem plans to launch a pilot for Pontes by the end of the third quarter of 2026. It will offer a single Eurosystem solution which incorporates features used in the Eurosystem’s exploratory work on DLT in 2024.
During the pilot, the Eurosystem will also explore the feasibility of further enhancements in line with the TARGET Services operational, legal and technical standards. Between now and the launch of the Pontes pilot, the Eurosystem will consider requests for further DLT-related trials and experiments.
Long-term
Appia focuses on a long-term approach for an innovative and integrated ecosystem in Europe that also facilitates safe and efficient operations at the global level. The Eurosystem will actively continue to analyze DLT-based solutions and collaborate with public and private stakeholders.
To ensure continuous dialogue with the market, the Eurosystem will establish dedicated market contact groups for both Pontes and Appia. Pontes and Appia will build on the Eurosystem’s exploratory work on new technologies for wholesale central bank money settlement, which was conducted between May and November 2024. In this exploratory work, 64 participants conducted over 50 trials and experiments.
ECB trials
In the context of the exploratory work, there was access to an escrow account, which is defined as a real time gross settlement (RTGS) account held by the national central bank of the eligible participants. In the trials with both the TIPS Hash-Link solution, provided by the Banca d’Italia, and the Full DLT Interoperability solution, provided by the Banque de France, the escrow account was used to provide funding via liquidity transfers (i.e. transfers of CeBM from the participant’s dedicated cash account) and to request the minting of exploratory liquidity.
The funds on the escrow account belonged to the national central bank and were held on an intraday only basis. Participants who experienced an escrow mechanism in trials highlighted the need for liquidity to be manageable overnight, rather than limited to intraday only (“intraday only” use being a design feature specific to the trials). This design feature avoided the need for complex temporary rules governing minimum reserve holdings.