Piero Cipollone, the ECB executive board member responsible for payment systems, has made the case for tokenisation to bankers in Milan. He spoke by video link to the executive committee of Abi and highlighted the opportunities it offers. For the Eurosystem, he said, tokenisation is an opportunity to be seized rather than just a risk to contain.
Cipollone said action is needed while the architecture of digital markets is still being defined, before models that are hard to change become entrenched. He stressed that tokenised markets will reach a significant size only with active market participation, and that banks have an important role to play.
THREE RISKS OF A PRIVATE-ONLY APPROACH
Leaving the development of tokenisation solely to private initiative exposes Europe to three interconnected risks, Cipollone said. The first is fragmentation, with a proliferation of incompatible networks and platforms.
The second is the loss of the anchor to central bank money. Relying mainly on private assets to settle transactions would reduce the benefits of a safe asset and increase liquidity and credit risks. The third is dependency on technological infrastructures and settlement systems controlled outside Europe.
SETTLEMENT INFRASTRUCTURE FOR TOKENISED ASSETS
Cipollone said the Eurosystem is intervening to keep tokenised markets integrated, anchored to central bank money and under European control. In that effort sits Pontes, the infrastructure launched by the Eurosystem on 21 September to enable central bank money settlement for tokenised financial assets. At its debut, Pontes connected 14 market operators and four DLT infrastructure managers.
He invited banks and operators to use Pontes and to contribute to Appia, the Eurosystem project that is defining a path for tokenised financial markets. No institution can reach these objectives alone, he observed.
INNOVATION PLATFORM AND NEW CALL FOR INTEREST
In 2024 the central bank launched an innovation platform that involved around 70 market operators in experimenting with ideas and identifying possible applications. A new call for expression of interest was published on 28 September, with applications open until 9 November 2026.
Thirty-six payment service providers have been selected, seven of them Italian. Abi Lab took part in the previous round of activities, and Cipollone invited the association to apply again.
DIGITAL EURO AND MERCHANT FEES
The ECB is also preparing a digital euro pilot project, scheduled for the second half of 2027 and likely to start in September. Cipollone said the digital euro will not replace private solutions but will enable their development. It will do so by providing the scale, trust and common standards they need to grow across Europe.
On fees charged to merchants, Cipollone underlined the importance of an average cap across the whole euro area. He said this would protect smaller businesses in particular and keep conditions consistent between countries.
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