ECB should have DLT wholesale settlements when the market wants it, official says By Cointelegraph

The European Central Bank (ECB) needs a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) because market players expect it, ECB executive board member Fabio Panetta told a banking symposium in Germany on Monday. Two options for wholesale CBDCs are currently under consideration.

Wholesale CBDC is not a new concept, Panetta said. Eurosystem’s Target2 uses a centralized CBDC, strictly speaking. Target2 is a real-time gross settlement system in use since 2017 that also provides a securities settlement platform and an instant payment settlement service. Despite this, banks and financial market institutions continue to explore distributed ledger technology (DLT), Panetta said.