Project Pontes and the future of European wholesale settlement

The European Central Bank has announced a two-phased approach to overhauling cash settlement for tokenised securities transactions. The first of these is known as Pontes and it is anticipated to be available for use in 2026. The second, Appia, will go on to explore the medium-term possibility of a fully integrated ledger, or set of ledgers, connecting the central bank with tokenised markets and their institutions on a 24/7 atomic basis.

Timothée Fluteau, deputy head of wholesale digital currency and innovation at Banque de France, which has been a pioneer in the Eurosystem’s experiments in tokenised central bank money, joins OMFIF to discuss where wholesale settlement in euros is going.