The European Central Bank presented its comprehensive strategy for the digitalisation of money, payments and finance on 23 September 2026, outlining timelines for a digital euro retail currency and new wholesale settlement infrastructure built on distributed ledger technology.
Piero Cipollone, a member of the ECB Executive Board, delivered the presentation at Fondazione ResPublica. He described the digital transformation as driven by three forces: the ongoing digitisation of payments, the emergence of technologies such as distributed ledger technology (DLT), and a heightened focus on reducing dependencies and strengthening resilience in European financial markets.
The ECB's strategy centres on central bank money as a trusted anchor across both retail and wholesale markets, supporting the international role of the euro and building strategic autonomy in European payments. Settlement assets were categorised into public forms — the digital euro for daily transactions and tokenised central bank money via the Pontes and Appia initiatives for wholesale use — and private forms including tokenised commercial bank deposits and stablecoins backed by reserve assets.
The digital euro, described as a digital complement to cash, would be available online and offline across the euro area and distributed through EU-licensed payment service providers. Banks would play a central distribution role, with holding limits, no remuneration, and restrictions on business holdings forming part of the safeguard framework. Fair compensation would be provided to distributing banks.
The digital euro programme has progressed through distinct phases: an investigation period from October 2021 to October 2023 covering concept definition and technical exploration, a preparation phase running from November 2023 to October 2025 focused on testing and experimentation, and a current phase beginning November 2025 that emphasises technical readiness, market engagement and legislative support. A 12-month pilot is scheduled to start in the second half of 2027, with the ECB targeting a possible first issuance during 2029. The bank stressed it would only proceed to issuance once EU co-legislators adopt the digital euro Regulation.
On the wholesale side, Cipollone pointed to fragmented ledgers, inconsistent custody and tax regulation, and non-interoperable technology ecosystems as barriers that tokenised central bank money aims to resolve. The Pontes initiative, which links DLT platforms to TARGET Services so transactions can settle in central bank money, was launched on 21 September 2026 and will see gradual enhancements over the following two years. The Appia initiative, structured as a public-private partnership, supports development of an integrated tokenised ecosystem, with a Blueprint documenting analysis, standardisation and longer-term design vision expected in 2028.
On cross-border payments, the ECB referenced G20 objectives to interlink TARGET Instant Payments Settlement (TIPS) with fast payment systems outside Europe through bilateral and multilateral channels. The eurozone is participating in Project Agorá, a multi-currency platform test led by the Bank for International Settlements, using TIPS's multi-currency feature to settle funds end-to-end instantly in central bank money.
