ECB Central Bank Money Onchain: Three Models and What Is Live

On 1 October 2026, Isabel Schnabel, a member of the European Central Bank’s Executive Board, showed three ways central bank money could move onto blockchain-style ledgers, speaking at a Bank of England conference in London. The Block’s report the next day was headlined “ECB outlines three models for putting central bank money onchain.”

Some holders read that as a digital euro, or as something that competes with the stablecoins they hold. Neither is quite right. This post goes through the three models as The Block reported them, looks at what the ECB has actually launched, and separates what is live from what is still being explored. We covered the XRP Ledger link to Pontes in a separate post; this one focuses on whose money is whose.

What is central bank money?

Central bank money is money the central bank itself owes, and banks use it to settle with each other. The system has two tiers:

• Top tier: banks hold money at the central bank, called reserves.
• Bottom tier: you hold deposits at your bank.

When banks settle payments with each other, they use central bank money. You will also see DLT, short for distributed ledger technology: a shared record kept across a network of computers. A blockchain is one kind of DLT.

What are the ECB’s three models?

Based on The Block’s report, the three models work like this.

Model	How it works	Whose promise is the money?
1. Direct issuance	The central bank issues tokenized reserves on the ledger	The central bank’s, on the ledger itself
2. Bridging	The central bank’s existing settlement system (RTGS) is linked to a DLT platform	The central bank’s, kept in the existing system and linked
3. Private settlement tokens	Private tokens backed by central bank reserves	A private company’s, backed by reserves

RTGS stands for real-time gross settlement, the central bank’s existing system for settling payments between banks. The Block explains that in the bridging model the reserves would not themselves be tokenized, but the two systems would be linked. In the third model, The Block says the tokens would be private claims rather than claims issued directly by the central bank.

That last detail is the one to remember. A token can be backed by central bank money and still be a promise from a private company. The Block describes these as ways central bank money could go onchain, and it does not say any model has been chosen.

Is any of this live yet?

One piece is. The ECB’s Pontes page describes Pontes as the Eurosystem’s DLT solution that links market DLT platforms and TARGET Services, the payment and settlement services the Eurosystem already runs. The page says the initial launch took place on 21 September 2026.

The Pontes page says any entity with access to T2, part of TARGET Services, can take part. That means banks and market firms, not individuals.

The same day, the ECB said in a press release that it has started preparatory work to invest a small portion of its own funds in tokenised securities, settled in central bank money through Pontes.

What does this mean for stablecoin holders?

Three points stand out. First, what is live today is wholesale. Pontes is for firms with T2 access, not something you open an account with. Second, the digital euro is a separate ECB project; none of this is the digital euro. Third, Pontes links market DLT platforms to the ECB’s systems, and nothing in the reporting says stablecoins would be replaced.

The bigger lesson is that stablecoins, bank deposits and central bank money are each a claim on someone:

• A stablecoin is a promise from the company that issues it.
• A bank deposit is a promise from your bank.
• Central bank money is a promise from the central bank.

So when you read “onchain money,” the first job is to ask whose promise it is.

What is Appia?

Appia is the ECB’s longer-term exploration. The ECB’s September release says Appia is meant to deliver a blueprint for a tokenised financial ecosystem in Europe. A blueprint is a plan, not a running system. The Block adds that tokenized infrastructure could let assets and money interact directly, so an asset and its payment change hands in the same step. That is still described with the word “could.” For background on similar central bank work, see our explainer on Project Agora and on Swift’s shared ledger.

A worked example: whose promise is it?

Here is a made-up example. Holder A and Holder B both read that central bank money is going onchain. Holder A decides all digital money is now the same thing. Holder B asks whose promise each token is.

Later, suppose a bank launches a settlement token backed by reserves. Holder A assumes it is central bank money. Holder B checks and sees that under a model like the third one, it would be a private claim. Neither has moved any money. What separates them is knowing who stands behind the token.

Three questions for any onchain money

1. Whose promise is it? The central bank’s, a bank’s, or a private issuer’s?
2. What backs it? Read the issuer’s own words. “Backed by reserves” is not the same as being central bank money.
3. Who can actually use it? If only banks and market firms can, it is plumbing, not something in your wallet.

What would change this view?

Our read is that the ECB has launched a wholesale bridge and is still weighing how its own money could live onchain. That would change if the ECB announced it had chosen one of the three models, if Pontes opened to users beyond firms with T2 access, or if the work were folded into the digital euro project.

What to watch next

• Whether the ECB names one of the three models.
• Whether Pontes opens to more kinds of firms or adds new features.
• What the Appia blueprint actually proposes.
• Whether the ECB’s own tokenised securities purchases settle through Pontes as described.

The three models come from The Block’s report, which paraphrases Schnabel’s presentation rather than quoting her, and are not ECB policy text. Sources were checked on 14 October 2026. This covers the euro area and wholesale settlement, not rules for U.S. holders.