ECB’s Schnabel Says Central Banks Should Go On-Chain

European Central Bank board member Isabel Schnabel has called for central banks to integrate more directly with blockchain-based financial infrastructure, arguing that tokenized central-bank money could help preserve the public sector’s role as markets move on-chain.

Her Jackson Hole remarks highlighted possible uses for distributed ledgers in settlement, liquidity provision, collateral management and programmable financial operations.

Why institutions are paying attention

Traditional finance is increasingly experimenting with tokenized bonds, funds, deposits and collateral. If central-bank money can settle those instruments directly on compatible infrastructure, institutions may be able to reduce reconciliation work and shorten settlement chains without relying entirely on private stablecoins.

Ethereum and tokenization

Public blockchains such as Ethereum remain central to the tokenization debate, but central banks are also exploring permissioned and interoperable systems. The important question is not whether every asset migrates to one chain; it is whether regulated money can move efficiently between different ledgers.

What comes next

The ECB’s experiments, including work around blockchain-linked settlement initiatives, will be watched closely by banks, asset managers and crypto infrastructure companies. Standards, privacy, governance and legal finality remain major hurdles.

Source: Reuters.

Original NetNapz reporting and analysis. Not financial advice.