The European Central Bank plans to launch Pontes in the third quarter of 2026, moving its work on tokenised financial infrastructure toward implementation. Led by ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone, the project is designed to connect distributed ledger technology (DLT) platforms used in financial markets with TARGET Services, allowing transactions involving tokenised assets to settle in tokenised central bank money rather than commercial bank deposits or stablecoins. Pontes addresses the absence of a trusted settlement asset in DLT-based markets and is focused on wholesale, interbank activity rather than retail consumers. It forms part of the broader Appia roadmap, which targets completion by 2028 and covers interoperability, legal frameworks, collateral eligibility and public-private coordination. Eurosystem trials in 2024 processed roughly €1.6 billion across nine jurisdictions, while DLT-issued marketable assets became eligible as collateral for Eurosystem credit operations in March 2026. European issuers have introduced close to €4 billion in DLT-based fixed-income instruments since 2021. Successful implementation could support wider use of DLT in securities trading, clearing and settlement, reduce counterparty and operational risks through atomic settlement, and narrow the role of euro-denominated stablecoins in institutional finance. The project could also inform the Eurosystem’s wider debate on central bank digital currencies, although its immediate scope is wholesale rather than retail payments.