ECB President Christine Lagarde said that the Eurosystem plans to conduct a 12-month internal pilot of the digital euro in the second half of 2027, with implementation depending on the passage of digital euro legislation by the end of 2026. In wholesale payments, the Eurosystem’s DLT solution Pontes went live on September 21 to support settlement in central bank money for tokenized asset transactions; Appia plans to further advance a blueprint for a tokenized ecosystem based on common standards, shared network infrastructure, and European governance.
推荐理由：The material covers both the digital euro retail payments pilot and tokenized asset settlement capabilities, presenting two development paths for central bank money to adapt to digital payments and financial markets.
ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone said that the ECB is extending central bank money to retail payments and tokenized wholesale finance through the digital euro, Pontes and Appia. The digital euro pilot is planned to launch in the second half of 2027 and run for 12 months. If the legislative process is completed by the end of 2026, the ECB aims to be ready for the first issuance in 2029. Pontes was launched on September 21 to settle tokenized assets in central bank money, with full implementation expected by mid-2028.
推荐理由：The speech places the digital euro and tokenized settlement within the same strategic framework, and sets out the timelines and institutional objectives for the pilot, issuance readiness, Pontes and Appia.
The ECB Governing Council approved the initial launch protocol for Pontes, enabling wholesale transactions in tokenized assets to settle in central bank money, with the initial phase scheduled to launch on September 21. The ECB also approved an assessment of the feasibility of interconnecting TIPS with Brazil’s instant payment system Pix, and designated Visa Europe Payment System as a systemically important payment system, with oversight led by the ECB.
推荐理由：The ECB’s initiatives cover two main areas: settling tokenized assets in central bank money and assessing TIPS–Pix interconnection, alongside the supervision of Visa Europe Payment System, spanning wholesale settlement and payment network governance.
Stripe announced support for OUSD across its products and designated OUSD as the default stablecoin configuration. Businesses can receive, hold, send, and spend OUSD through Treasury, and can also use products including Issuing, Global Payouts, Crypto Onramp, and Payments. OUSD is now supported on Base, Ethereum, Solana, and Tempo, while Stripe will continue to allow users to use other stablecoins.
推荐理由：Stripe’s designation of OUSD as the default stablecoin and its integration into products including treasury management, card issuance, and global payouts give businesses a basis for evaluating how to integrate stablecoin operations.
FCA Chief Executive Nikhil Rathi said at a TheCityUK dinner that the UK must move from experimentation to adoption and create the conditions for emerging technologies such as tokenization to scale safely in wholesale markets. FCA has authorized HSBC Orion to provide real-time digital securities custody services, plans to finalize the stablecoin regime before summer, and will jointly publish a tokenization roadmap with the Bank of England while consulting on protection rules for related tokenized investment assets.
推荐理由：FCA has clearly stated its intention to move from experimentation to scaled adoption and provided timelines for tokenization, stablecoins, and digital securities custody, allowing readers to assess the regulatory direction of the UK’s wholesale market infrastructure.
The European Central Bank has begun preparations to invest part of its own funds in tokenized securities, with transactions settled through the Eurosystem’s DLT settlement solution Pontes in central bank money. Initial investments will focus on euro-denominated securities issued by euro area governments and European supranational institutions. The Executive Board will determine the operational details and timeline once the preparations are complete.
推荐理由：The original text sets out the European Central Bank’s plan to directly invest its own funds in tokenized securities and settle through Pontes in central bank money, allowing readers to assess how central bank funds will be deployed in DLT-based assets.
Eurosystem has launched Pontes, enabling wholesale trading in tokenised assets to be settled in central bank money. Pontes is the first initiative under the Eurosystem’s strategy for tokenised finance. It will initially provide a set of core services, with enhanced functionality and longer operating hours to be added gradually. Full implementation is expected to be completed in 2028. The first market participants and DLT operators have completed onboarding and can use the platform immediately, with more participants expected to connect in the coming months.
推荐理由：Pontes brings central bank money settlement to wholesale trading in tokenised assets and sets out a phased expansion path through 2028, making it useful for observing how Europe’s DLT financial infrastructure is put into operation.