A bond, a fund share or a deposit, recorded as a digital token in a shared ledger. The Eurosystem has been testing it since 2024, and since September 2026 such deals in the euro area can be settled in central bank money.
Today, when a bond is bought, the deal passes through several places: one keeps the record, another counts the money, a third confirms both sides swapped what they should. Every stop is more time and one more middleman. Tokenisation promises to put both the asset and the money in one ledger, where the exchange happens at once.
What Pontes changes
A deal in a token is only as safe as the money it is paid with. That's why Pontes matters: deals in tokenised assets can now settle in central bank money, the safest money in the system. Among the first participants are Deutsche Bank, Santander, Société Générale and the European Investment Bank. Full implementation is expected by 2028.
Where it sits in the tree
A stablecoin is a tokenised dollar or euro issued by a private company. The digital euro is the project for central bank money for everyone. Tokenised assets are the third piece: the securities moving into the same world. Don't expect to see them in your banking app tomorrow. The change is in the plumbing of finance, a long way from the shop window.