The European Central Bank began a pilot of the Pontes platform on Sept. 21, connecting private blockchain networks to its TARGET system. President Christine Lagarde described the initiative as a "digital euro for banks," which allows financial institutions to settle tokenized assets directly in central bank money. The system utilizes distributed ledger technology to facilitate transactions between member banks without friction.

The launch is the first stage of the Appia project, a wider ecosystem for tokenized financial markets. The ECB schedules consumer-facing digital euro testing for mid-2027 to expand the utility of the currency beyond institutional users.