ECB board member says central bank money key to tokenized finance

European Central Bank (ECB) Executive Board member Piero Cipollone has stated that tokenized central bank money must serve as public payment infrastructure for Europe's tokenized financial market to expand. According to Cointelegraph, Cipollone warned in a speech in Brussels that without a payment method based on central bank digital currency, sellers of tokenized securities could be forced to accept payment in assets exposed to price volatility or credit risk, hindering market expansion. The ECB is currently planning to support central bank money-based settlements by connecting market DLT platforms with its existing TARGET payment service through the Eurosystem's Pontes project. The project is slated for launch in the third quarter of this year.