Overview
- The ECB set an initial Pontes rollout for Q3 2026 to let distributed-ledger trades settle in central bank money via TARGET Services.
- The bank said stablecoins cannot scale European tokenized markets on their own because holders face price swings or credit risk.
- The ECB is seeking harmonized rules across the EU to make tokenized assets easier to issue, hold, and transfer across borders.
- Appia outlines a roadmap through 2028 to set interoperability standards such as shared data formats and compatible smart contracts.
- Industry feedback, including from Circle, pressed to widen the DLT Pilot Regime and to permit e-money token cash accounts.