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BayernLB issued a commercial paper worth 100 million euros as a crypto security under German regulations with Siemens AG as the buyer, the bank said in a statement released on October 27, 2026. The entire process from issuance through blockchain registration to final payment in central bank money concluded within minutes on the same day. SWIAT operated the permissioned blockchain used for the transfer and also functioned as the official crypto securities register keeper. This transaction represents the first operational deployment of the PONTES infrastructure by a German bank in a live environment.
The settlement relied on PONTES, the Eurosystem’s DLT bridge solution that connects market blockchain platforms to TARGET Services for payments in central bank money. BayernLB was certified among the first seven German institutions as a market participant on the platform. According to a Bundesbank publication, PONTES builds directly on features tested during the Eurosystem’s 2024 exploratory DLT trials that involved more than 60 participants and settled around 1.6 billion euros across various use cases.
BayernLB’s certification and live usage underscore Germany’s early adoption within the broader ECB initiative that launched Pontes in September 2026 following those initial experiments. The deal highlights how short-term wholesale instruments like commercial paper benefit from near-instant settlement that minimizes counterparty risk compared to traditional T+1 or longer cycles. A post on X by analyst 0xLucasson noted that the transaction unites the title transfer on the register with the cash leg in central bank money, an approach particularly suited to institutional wholesale deals.
Johannes Anschott, a BayernLB board member, said in the bank’s statement, “With this transaction we have for the first time settled a securities issuance entirely digitally and in central bank money. This creates more efficiency, speed and security for our customers and is an important step on the way to a digital capital market.” André Haag, the bank’s chief financial officer, added that in the analog world trading and settlement for such instruments fell at least a day apart while the new process ensures ownership transfer and payment flow within minutes, calling it a milestone for short-term refinancing where every day counts.
The transaction was structured in compliance with Germany’s Electronic Securities Act that enables crypto securities issuance and registration on distributed ledgers. Baker McKenzie provided legal advice to BayernLB on the deal according to the law firm’s separate announcement. Industry reporting from Börsen-Zeitung confirmed that seven German banks have now been certified for Pontes with this marking the first such live German transaction on the platform.
ECB plans position Pontes as the short-term track for DLT settlement while a longer-term initiative called Appia will explore more integrated future ecosystems for tokenized assets. Previous tests in 2024 by BayernLB with partners including Stadtsparkasse München had used similar DLT linkages but remained in exploratory mode. This live settlement advances the shift toward operational digital capital markets across the euro area.
