The European Central Bank (ECB) will launch a new blockchain-based settlement system in Q3 2026, offering central bank money on distributed ledger technology (DLT) for real-world transactions. Though officially labelled a pilot, the platform will be fully operational from day one.
“We go live in Q3 next year,” said Dimitri Pattyn deputy director general of the ECB during a presentation at Sibos 2025 in Frankfurt.
Pattyn clarified that while the term “pilot” is used about, the Pontes scheme is here to stay, and the rollout will help to enhance and improve the system.
“The message I want to pass to you today: it’s coming, it will be there to stay,” said Pattyn.
Pontes is the first part of a dual-track strategy for the ECB around DLT settlement. “It’s to offer an interoperability solution in the short term. Then there is a long-term track, called Appia, which is about analysing possible designs for a more integrated solution.”
The short-term solution is built from three previously tested models. “It’s actually combining the best features of the three solutions and make it possible,” said Pattyn. “That’s why it takes a bit of time. The developers are still working on it.”
To avoid a “blind spot where nothing happens,” the ECB will continue supporting trials and experiments ahead of the Q3 launch. “We are there to support additional tests and trials in production,” said Pattyn. “But our focus is really on delivering the product in Q3 next year.”
Industry demand and ECB’s strategic response
The ECB’s move into DLT settlement is driven by three core motivations: keeping the role of central bank money, supporting innovation and responding to market demand.
“We want to preserve this pivotal role of central bank money in the industry,” Pattyn explained. “We support innovation. And moreover, we support those changes that have the potential of increasing market integration and delivering more efficiency.”
The ECB’s exploration revealed strong market appetite. “There is demand,” said Pattyn. “Five years ago, it was maybe a bunch of geeks that were asking for it, but now we hear more and more the industry asking, ‘why don’t you bring central bank money in this ecosystem?’.”
At the same session, Holger Neuhaus, head of market innovation at the ECB, emphasised the scale of engagement. “When we announced it in December for just a few months, 64 stakeholders wanted to work with us. Some 64 central banks, commercial banks, CSDs, new market players, from nine countries were signed up.”
This demand was not manufactured, he noted. “It was not artificially created. It actually revealed the demand that was in the market.”
The ECB offered two modes of participation: experiments and trials. “We gave the option of either doing experiments with us… trying something out,” said Neuhaus. “And we also allowed for trying trials where you don’t want to take risks, because the trials were real value transactions.”
The results were substantial. “We had 200 transactions, €1.6bn actually being sent. Of course, if you compare that to the traditional ecosystem this is small but the dynamic was very visible,” Neuhaus noted.
Findings from trials and experiments
The ECB’s trials yielded several key insights. “It helped us understand really the demand and there was… a lot of interest from the market,” said Pattyn. “It confirmed that there is the possibility of delivering or bringing central bank money to the ecosystem.”
One major finding was the importance of central bank money. “The absence of central bank money is… an element that is slowing down, if not impeding, the growth and development of those ecosystems,” said Pattyn.
Another was the market’s desire for a unified solution. “The market clearly expressed a preference for having one solution, not many,” he added. “That’s probably due to investments, to economies of scale.”
The trials also demonstrated the potential for broader redesign. “The trials and experiments show that there is also a lot more potential if there is a bigger redesign of the setup that would deliver huge benefits across the chain.”
When live, Pontes will offer two settlement options and eligibility is still being finalised but is likely to echo those “inherited from the work that we did during the experiment”, said Neuhaus.
The ECB is not working in isolation, according to Pattyn, who noted that the ECB was creating “what we call a market contact group, where we meet regularly with industry”. Around 100 institutions have already applied to be part of the group.
The ECB is also aiming for geographic and sectoral balance, the deputy governor noted. “We need to find the right balance between the types of actors that will be represented, but also the geography, so the geographic location, of course, Europe must be balanced.”
Looking ahead: Appia and the long-term vision
While Pontes delivers in 2026, Appia represents the ECB’s long-term ambition, which is scheduled to launch in early 2028.
Appia will explore deeper integration, said Neuahaus. “Can DLT help simplify what is happening in the existing world… Can we actually integrate them seamlessly?”
The ECB will publish a launch paper in Q1 2026 that will give insights.
“We then want to work in a targeted way with the market on how to make this happen,” said Neuhaus. “We want to do… an evidence-based approach. What do we learn? What do we take? There is a decision tree there. In what direction can we go?”
For more information, head to the ECB website.
