ECB Calls for Central Banks to Adopt On-Chain Reserves

European Central Bank Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel called on central banks to move their reserves onto programmable blockchain infrastructure, arguing this is necessary to harness the full benefits of tokenized finance while preserving the role of sovereign money. Speaking at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on August 28, 2026, Schnabel outlined a vision where central bank money exists directly on distributed ledgers alongside tokenized assets.

Her core proposal is to place central bank reserves on-chain so that both assets and final payment can settle within the same programmable environment. This would enable atomic settlement, where a transaction completes only if both sides of the exchange are successful, potentially reducing reconciliation costs and eliminating settlement risk. Schnabel emphasized that this approach is focused on wholesale finance and does not imply a consumer-facing ECB cryptocurrency.

"The potential gains are particularly significant for Europe," Schnabel stated, noting that tokenization could help overcome the fragmentation of the euro area's financial infrastructure. A common digital...