Overview
- Pontes went into limited real‑time operation on Monday with a first cohort of major banks and DLT operators and restricted weekday hours from 08:00 to 16:00 as the ECB monitors performance.
- The platform acts as a bridge between existing TARGET settlement and distributed‑ledger platforms so institutions can settle digital securities directly in secure central bank money.
- The ECB said it will buy a small amount of tokenised debt from its own non‑monetary (own funds) portfolio, cited as around €100 million, and it ruled out purchases of cryptocurrencies or stablecoins.
- The ECB argues tokenisation can speed up wholesale trades and cut settlement risk through atomic, all‑or‑nothing settlement and programmable rules that automate post‑trade steps.
- Officials framed Pontes as an experimental, stepwise rollout toward broader services and eventual 24‑7‑365 operation, a move that could nudge a still‑nascent market for tokenised sovereign and supranational debt.