Italian Central Bank Urges EU to Consider Tokenization of Euro Payment Systems
A senior official from the Italian central bank stated that the EU should assess the tokenization of existing payment systems, including SEPA, to adapt to technological changes and maintain competitiveness.
Chiara Scotti, Deputy Governor of the Italian central bank, pointed out that as currencies become increasingly digital, tokenized SEPA can enhance payment speed, programmability, and efficiency while preserving monetary sovereignty and trust.
The EU's payment infrastructure is rapidly evolving towards tokenization, with funds shifting from traditional SEPA systems to DLT/blockchain settlement solutions. European banks and tokenized infrastructure providers benefit, while entities relying on traditional clearing networks face pressure.
Source: Public Information
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The Italian central bank has previously participated in tokenized financial experiments such as the Eurosystem Appia roadmap. This public call for tokenized SEPA continues the path from exploring the digital euro to upgrading existing retail payment systems. Earlier, the Eurosystem launched a wholesale tokenized settlement pilot and plans to introduce the Pontes project in September.
In terms of capital pathways, the Italian central bank promotes the tokenized expansion of SEPA, mobilizing European banks and DLT platform resources to achieve real-time, programmable payments. The strategic motive is to anchor the tokenized market with central bank currency, preventing non-EU stablecoins or private tokens from dominating European payments while enhancing cross-border and wholesale settlement efficiency.
Similar to the Eurosystem Appia project integrating tokenized financial ecosystems, or tokenized payment pilots in countries like Switzerland and Singapore, the European payment infrastructure is in the early stages of transitioning from traditional SEPA to a tokenized hybrid system, with large banks and DLT platforms gaining more control over future payment layers.
Essentially, this represents a restructuring of the industry chain: tokenization shifts euro payments from centralized clearing to DLT programmable settlement. The mechanism relies on central bank digital currency as an anchoring asset to maintain trust, while reducing intermediary costs and enhancing 24/7 availability, shifting pricing power from traditional clearing institutions to European entities with tokenized infrastructure and compliance capabilities, accelerating the concentration of capital towards the European tokenized financial ecosystem.
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The more traditional the payment system, the greater the pressure for tokenization; technological changes always push from the margins to the core. The sooner central banks tokenize existing systems, the later private stablecoins will dominate European payment sovereignty. The earlier SEPA becomes programmable, the later European finance will be locked into external infrastructures, with the anchoring asset determining final control.