ECB Prepares to Purchase Tokenized Securities in Distributed Ledger Tech Trial

06:48 AM EDT, 09/21/2026 (MT Newswires) -- The European Central Bank began preparatory work to invest a "small portion" of its own funds portfolio in tokenized securities, according to a Monday release. To build institutional expertise in digital ledger technology in financial markets, the ECB will initially focus its investments on euro-denominated securities issued by euro area governments, agencies and supranational bodies. Transactions will be settled in central bank money via Pontes, the newly launched Eurosystem platform for settling tokenized assets. Once preparations are completed, the ECB's executive board will finalize the timeline and details of the investments, based on market developments in tokenized finance.