Pontes, the Eurosystem’s distributed-ledger settlement project, is scheduled to launch on September 21 as a production-grade operational service for tokenized securities and other wholesale transactions in central bank money. Clearstream is conducting end-to-end testing of connectivity, settlement processes and operational readiness, while Axiology is progressing through testing and certification for issuance, secondary-market trading, redemptions and coupon payments. Pontes will link multiple market DLT platforms with the Eurosystem’s TARGET services and use its Hash-Link mechanism to support synchronized settlement, including delivery versus payment. At launch, cash-leg settlement finality will follow completion of the corresponding funds transfer in T2, with participants charged a one-time access fee. Operating hours are expected to expand gradually toward 24/7 service and multicurrency capabilities by mid-2028.