FRANKFURT, Sept 21 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank launched a new service on Monday linking its payment system to blockchain-based financial markets and said it would invest some of its own money in digital securities.
The moves reflect a broader effort by central banks to adapt to the growing use of blockchain in finance, whereby assets are issued and traded using shared digital ledgers instead of traditional infrastructure.
The new service, known as Pontes, allows banks and investors to settle blockchain-based transactions using euros backed by the ECB, rather than stablecoins or other forms of private money.
The ECB said a first group of users, including Deutsche Bank, Santander and clearing giant Clearstream, had completed onboarding and would be able to use Pontes from the start.
Pontes uses a dual settlement model: market participants can settle transactions on the Eurosystem DLT platform with cash tokens, or in T2, the Eurosystem’s real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system. Delivery versus payment (DvP) settlement is enabled via the Hash-Link protocol.
The platform will only reach full capability, with longer operating hours and enhanced features, by 2028. Pontes is aimed at banks and markets, not consumers. The retail equivalent, the digital euro, would let the public make everyday payments directly in central bank money.