Discussion Paper 12 & Feedback Statement - Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) & Tokenisation in Financial Services

Overview

Description

In March 2026, Central Bank of Ireland launched Discussion Paper 12 (DP 12) to stimulate informed dialogue on the future role of DLT and tokenisation applications within the Irish and European financial services ecosystem.

The Central Bank launched DP 12 to enhance our understanding regarding stakeholders’ perspectives on how the integration of this technology in finance can be achieved in a way that ultimately benefits consumers of financial services and the broader economy.

These included:

  • Seeking to further our understanding of DLT and its potential to transform the underlying infrastructure of finance and create new innovative financial services
  • Assessing the opportunities, challenges, enablers and risks arising from these technological innovations
  • Ensuring that the use of DLT and tokenisation in financial services delivers the benefits of efficiency, transparency, and accessibility for the welfare of society as a whole.

The closing date for submissions to the Discussion Paper was 5 June 2026.

Feedback Statement

The Central Bank received 42 written responses to DP12 and we are grateful to respondents for the depth and quality of the engagement.  The written responses were supplemented by the Central Bank’s wider engagement with market participants and other stakeholders. The responses to our Discussion Paper identified longstanding inefficiencies that tokenisation may help address, including fragmented systems, complex intermediation, sequential processing and operational constraints associated with the movement of assets, collateral and money. Respondents also highlighted practical applications across investment funds, securities markets, payments and settlement.

The consultation has reinforced our thinking that this is a system-wide transition that requires considering the conditions necessary for tokenisation to deliver sustainable benefits across the financial system and for users of financial services.

Seven interrelated themes have emerged from our engagement:

  1. Legal certainty
  2. Regulatory adaptability
  3. Governance and accountability
  4. Interoperability and infrastructure
  5. Tokenised financial assets
  6. Tokenised money and settlement
  7. The management of systemic, sectoral and transitional risks.

Following on from this Feedback Statement, our future work will be grounded in a unified Central Bank approach, bringing together our policy, supervisory, authorisation, innovation and central banking perspectives. It will be structured around five areas:

  • As part of the Eurosystem, enabling central bank money settlement of on-chain transactions, and evolving the collateral framework to accept tokenised assets
  • Supporting efforts domestically and in Europe to advance legal and regulatory clarity
  • Evolving our innovation practices in line with the changing landscape
  • Shaping the development of the tokenised ecosystem to guard against fragmentation
  • Deepening our understanding of the macro-financial implications of tokenised finance.

This work will be supported by some specific innovations in our approach. A new Tokenisation Access Point (TAP) will provide a clearer route for engaging with the Central Bank on emerging tokenisation models, practical implementation issues and questions arising from the application of existing rules and frameworks.  We are also undertaking a new programme of focused, time-bound sprints, working with ecosystem participants on specific dimensions of the evolution of tokenised finance. 

Our objective is to ensure that the legal, regulatory and institutional foundations of Ireland’s financial system remain capable of accommodating technological change responsibly.

If you would like to share your views on Tokenisation with us, please email tokenisation@centralbank.ie.

DP Number: DP12
Date : 05 March 2026
Closing Date : 05 June 2026

Discussion Paper Document

DP12 - Distributed Ledger Technology & Tokenisation in Financial Services | pdf 1407 KB

Feedback Statement

Feedback statement: Discussion Paper 12 - Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) & Tokenisation in Financial Services | pdf 1013 KB