European Central Bank Executive Board member Piero Cipollone detailed the institution's strategy for retail and wholesale digital finance during an October 6, 2026 webcast. The plans include a digital euro pilot in 2027 and a potential first issuance in 2029.
Digital Euro Timeline and Pilot
Piero Cipollone stated that the digital euro is designed to provide a pan-European digital means of payment for everyday transactions. The Eurosystem selected 36 payment service providers to participate in a 12-month digital euro pilot scheduled to begin in the second half of 2027.
Assuming the legislative process concludes by the end of 2026, the ECB aims to be ready for a potential first issuance in 2029. The ECB also opened a call on September 15 for e-commerce and mobile-commerce merchants to join the pilot and test customer payment journeys.
Wholesale Tokenisation and Pontes
To address wholesale financial markets, the Eurosystem launched Pontes on September 21, 2026. Pontes enables wholesale transactions in tokenised assets to be settled in central bank money by connecting market distributed ledger technology platforms with Eurosystem services.
Full implementation of Pontes is expected by mid-2028, aiming to offer a 24/7 service with multi-currency capability. Additionally, the ECB is developing Appia to establish an integrated European tokenised financial ecosystem blueprint by 2028.
Key facts and where they come from
- The speech was delivered by Piero Cipollone, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, during an MNI Connect Webcast on October 6, 2026.
Speech by Piero Cipollone, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, MNI Connect Webcast Frankfurt am Main, 6 October 2026
- The digital euro pilot is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2027 and run for 12 months.
The digital euro pilot is planned to begin in the second half of 2027 and run for 12 months.
- The Eurosystem launched Pontes on September 21 to settle wholesale transactions in tokenised assets.
Pontes enables wholesale transactions in tokenised assets to be settled in central bank money.
- The ECB aims to be ready for a potential first digital euro issuance in 2029 if legislation concludes by the end of 2026.
Assuming the legislative process is fully concluded by the end of 2026, we aim to be ready for a potential first issuance in 2029.