ECB launches ‘digital euro for banks’ and prepares to buy tokenized bonds

According to CryptoSlate, the Eurosystem launched Pontes, giving banks a live route to settle tokenized securities in central-bank money. The European Central Bank (ECB) simultaneously began preparations to invest its own funds in tokenized securities, with those purchases settling through Pontes.

Pontes connects distributed-ledger market platforms with the Eurosystem’s TARGET settlement services. An initial group including Deutsche Bank, Santander, Société Générale, and the European Investment Bank has completed onboarding, alongside DLT operators such as Clearstream, Axiology, Cashlink, and SWIAT. André Dragosch of Bitwise Europe described the system as effectively a digital euro for banks.

The ECB's planned investment program gives the central bank direct exposure to the transaction lifecycle. Initial purchases will focus on euro-denominated tokenized securities issued by euro-area central governments, regional governments, agencies, and European supranational institutions. The ECB's own-funds holdings were worth €23.1 billion at the end of 2025. The ECB has not disclosed the size or timing of the tokenized allocation. Pontes arrives ahead of Europe's consumer-facing digital euro, which has a retail pilot planned for late 2027.