The Bank of France and Euroclear announced on Friday that they have launched a joint initiative, the Pythagorean Project, to tokenize negotiable European commercial papers (NEU CP).
In a press release, Euroclear said the move represents an important step towards modernizing France’s €310 billion short-term debt market through distributed ledger technology (DLT).
The project aims to enhance transparency, efficiency and security for issuers and investors, while reducing administrative burdens in Europe’s largest short-term debt market.
The pilot phase is expected to begin at the end of 2026, in line with the Eurosystem’s PONTIS project, which will support the launch of a wholesale interconnected central bank digital currency (CBDC).
Euroclear’s DLT-based platform will prioritize interoperability, enabling seamless integration with financial infrastructures and facilitating the use of central bank digital currencies in the future.
“The NEU CP tokenization is a strategic step towards building a more modern, efficient, flexible and interconnected market infrastructure,” said Isabelle Delorme, Head of Product Strategy and Innovation at Euroclear. “This initiative will strengthen France’s position as a leading center for short-term financing.”
Emmanuel Aswan, General Manager of Financial Stability and Operations at the Bank of France, added that the project is “fully aligned” with the company’s ambition of “a more automated and transparent market” and represents “a strategic sector for the deployment of the European system of wholesale central bank digital currencies from 2026 onwards.”
The collaboration builds on previous innovation efforts between the two institutions, including France’s first native digital note issued in November 2024.