June 29 (Cointime) - The European Central Bank (ECB) has announced plans to begin exploratory work on financial market settlement using distributed ledger technology (DLT) in 2024. The aim is to find ways to settle transactions between financial institutions for securities or foreign exchange, while also developing a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) called the digital euro.

The exploratory work will be limited in capacity and time and will take place on the basis of existing rules, including a new pilot regulation passed by the EU last year. The ECB's consultative board includes traditional finance players such as Euroclear and Deutsche Bank, as well as DLT-focused initiatives such as HQLAX and Fnality.