ECB Names First Four DLT Operators for Pontes Ahead of September Launch
Key points
- Pontes is scheduled to launch on 21 September, with Axiology, Clearstream, Cashlink, and SWIAT named as its first four DLT operator participants, though the ECB describes the group as evolving.
- Pontes will settle via two modes: a trigger solution connected to TARGET2 payments and DLT-based cash tokens representing T2 balances, the latter functioning as wholesale CBDC.
- The Appia contact group, now with 61 members, replaces two predecessor groups and includes stablecoin issuers Qivalis and Societe Generale Forge, as well as Fnality, alongside major CSDs, trading venues, and global industry associations.
- ESMA and the European Commission participate in the Appia contact group, indicating that its mandate extends into regulatory and legislative dimensions of EU market infrastructure reform.
- Axiology's CEO framed Pontes as the near-term bridge connecting digital securities to incumbent infrastructure, underscoring that meaningful tokenisation requires settlement interoperability, not just issuance capability.
The European Central Bank (ECB) and the Eurosystem have identified the first four distributed ledger technology (DLT) operators set to connect with the Pontes settlement solution, scheduled to go live on 21 September. Those initial participants are Axiology, a DLT Pilot Regime platform; Clearstream, the Deutsche Börse-owned central securities depository; Cashlink, a German registrar; and SWIAT, a multibank DLT infrastructure. The ECB noted the group will continue to evolve, and Axiology is currently working through testing and certification ahead of the launch date.
Pontes will offer two settlement modes: a trigger mechanism linked to TARGET2 (T2) payments and DLT-based cash tokens representing balances on T2, a structure often described as wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC). The four named operators span the full range of infrastructure types Pontes is designed to connect, from an established CSD to a Pilot Regime startup, which suggests the ECB is deliberately stress-testing interoperability across disparate platform architectures from the outset.
Separately, the ECB disclosed the 61 members of the Appia contact group, which supersedes both the Pontes market contact group and the New Technologies for Wholesale Settlement Contact Group. Membership is notably broad: the majority are banks, but the roster also includes DLT platforms, major market infrastructures such as Clearstream, Euroclear, Eurex, Euronext, Iberclear, LCH, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, Swift, and Tradeweb, industry associations including AFME, ECSDA, ICMA, and ISDA, and two stablecoin issuers, Qivalis and Societe Generale Forge, alongside Fnality, the tokenised wholesale settlement infrastructure. ESMA and the European Commission are also involved, positioning Appia as the longer-horizon vehicle for shaping the EU’s future financial market infrastructure.
More on the wire
- Clearstream to tokenise slice of €22 trillion custody book across settlement, collateral
- Africa Finance Corporation issues CHF 350m digital bond on SDX platform
- Project Pontes cash tokens lack settlement finality until 2027 ECB upgrade
- ECB sets 21 September go-live date for Project Pontes tokenised settlement