ECB's Schnabel: Central banks exploring on-chain settlement for wholesale payments

ECB Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel discussed central bank adoption of on-chain technology for wholesale payments at Jackson Hole, signaling a potential shift toward blockchain-based settlement infrastructure. The speech outlines exploratory work but stops short of a policy commitment, leaving the timeline and scope uncertain. This matters as it could reshape cross-border payment systems and influence private-sector stablecoin and CBDC developments.