The European Central Bank presented its roadmap for developing tokenized finance in Europe, structured around two complementary projects: Pontes and Appia. The continent currently has 31 central securities depositories, 14 clearing houses, and 323 trading platforms, with over 95% of transactions settled within the same local depository in 2023. Pontes, scheduled for September 21, will connect platforms using distributed ledger technology to the Eurosystem’s TARGET Services, enabling settlement of tokenized assets in central bank money. By 2028, the goal is to achieve infrastructure available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, with a harmonized legal framework across Europe. The ECB warns that tokenized markets relying solely on private instruments would introduce additional credit and liquidity risks.
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