Ten market participants, six market DLT operators, and five central banks will take part in the first phase of trials, which will include simulated settlement operations in a test environment as well as real settlement in central bank currency.

The application cases mostly examine the securities settlement cycle, including secondary market transactions, delivery-versus-payment, and securities lifecycle management. Payment-versus-payment is one of the several cross-border payment solutions that are being considered.

The process is carried out by Deutsche Börse's Clearstream post-trade business through its D7 digital post-trade platform, which has been enhanced with DLT capabilities.

Head of Issuer Services and New Digital Markets at Clearstream, Jens Hachmeister, states, "Participating in the ECB trials marks a significant milestone in Clearstream's digitization journey. We are enhancing our D7 digital securities infrastructure by incorporating DLT components and strengthening connections with the primary digital payment solutions across the Eurosystem."

He further adds, "We are excited to collaboratively shape the future of an interconnected digital European settlement landscape alongside the ECB and our extensive participant base."