What happened
- Specific facts/numbers: The Eurosystem said on 19 August 2026 that it selected 61 financial market stakeholders and public sector institutions for the Appia contact group, with the group due to begin work in September 2026; the earlier call for expressions of interest had set a 19 June 2026 application deadline.
- Institutions involved: The European Central Bank and the Eurosystem are leading the work, covering both the Appia contact group and the Pontes project, with participation from financial market stakeholders, public sector bodies and national central banks.
- Regulatory/technical context: Pontes is the Eurosystem’s DLT solution linking market DLT platforms with TARGET Services so tokenised wholesale transactions can settle in central bank money, while Appia is the longer-term workstream for a European tokenised financial ecosystem; the contact group will advise on user requirements, risk management, change and release management, testing, migration, interoperability, standardisation and cross-border topics.
- What to watch next: The Appia contact group starts in September 2026 and will take over the tasks of the discontinued Pontes market contact group and New Technologies for Wholesale settlement Contact Group; the next major milestone identified is the initial launch of Pontes planned for the third quarter of 2026.
Why it matters
This shows the ECB is moving from exploration to implementation governance for wholesale tokenised settlement, giving market participants a formal channel to shape how central bank money connects with DLT-based financial infrastructure.
HKMA Relevance
Indirect: The ECB’s work on wholesale tokenisation, interoperability and cross-border settlement could influence global standards and market structures that Hong Kong institutions and the HKMA monitor in their own tokenisation and wholesale CBDC initiatives.