ECB’s Schnabel Calls for Central-Bank Money on Blockchain - Bloomberg

European Central Bank Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel has called for central-bank money to be made available on blockchain, according to Bloomberg. The remarks place the ECB's thinking on tokenization and distributed-ledger technology within the broader debate over how official money should function in digital settlement systems.

The significance lies in the distinction between private and public money on-chain. Stablecoins and tokenized deposits are already being explored by commercial institutions, but Schnabel's position suggests central-bank reserves could serve as the settlement anchor for blockchain-based transactions, potentially reducing reliance on private issuers for core payment infrastructure. This connects to the ECB's ongoing work on a digital euro and its experiments with wholesale settlement using new technologies.

For markets, the comments are a signal about direction rather than a decision. Central-bank money on blockchain would require design choices on access, privacy and legal finality, and any implementation would move through the ECB's governance and legislative processes. What to watch: further ECB statements on the digital euro's design, progress in wholesale settlement trials, and how regulators frame the role of stablecoins alongside official money.