The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the backbone of U.S. post-trade markets, went live on October 28, 2026 with a tokenization service for securities held by its subsidiary DTC. Each token is backed one-for-one by a security DTC actually holds. The thesis: blockchain is moving into the core custody and settlement systems that already exist, rather than building a parallel market.
🔑 Key Takeaways
- Service live since October 28, 2026, after a limited production demonstration on July 15.
- Tokens backed one-for-one by securities held at DTC, with the same ownership, dividend and governance rights.
- Conversion targeted within 15 minutes during business hours; transfers between registered wallets 24/7.
- Twenty signatory institutions, including JPMorgan, Citi, Morgan Stanley and UBS, backed by $114 trillion in securities held at DTC.
A Service Backed by Real Securities at DTC
DTCC’s subsidiaries processed $4.7 quadrillion in securities transactions in 2025, according to the group. With more than 50 years of experience and 19 sites worldwide, the company says it handles more than 25 billion messages a year through its trade repository service. DTC alone custodies more than $114 trillion in securities.
The new service does not create synthetic products that simply track a share price. Tokens are backed one-for-one by securities that DTC actually holds, and they carry the same ownership, dividend and governance rights as the traditional securities.
DTC remains the official record of ownership, including when tokens move between registered blockchain wallets. The design therefore combines an established, centralized chain of trust with a programmable transfer layer that could reduce operational friction.
Conversion Mechanics and Eligible Assets
Eligible participants can convert securities during business hours, with a processing target of 15 minutes or less. Once converted, assets can move between registered wallets 24 hours a day, seven days a week, subject to compliance obligations. They can also be converted back into traditional securities on request.
A Framework Defined by the SEC
The perimeter rests on a no-action letter issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in December 2025. It allows DTC to offer a defined tokenization service to its participants and their clients for three years, removing a significant regulatory barrier for a defined set of liquid securities.
| Category | Scope | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Equities | Russell 1000, the 1,000 largest U.S. listed companies by market cap | Microsoft, Circle Internet Group |
| Index funds | Exchange-traded funds tracking major indices | Invesco QQQ Trust, SPDR S&P 500 |
| Government debt | U.S. Treasury bills, notes and bonds | Treasuries of various maturities, iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF |
“Today marks the culmination of several years of work to bring tokenized securities into a regulated framework supported by reliable market infrastructure.”
Frank La Salla, President and CEO, DTCC
A July Pilot, an October Rollout
The service runs on Canton, a public network designed for regulated finance, and on Hyperledger Besu, DTCC’s private network. It follows a limited production demonstration on July 15, 2026, which covered equities, index funds, Treasuries and several post-trade flows.
- July 2026: the demonstration drew more than 25 institutions according to CNBC and more than 30 according to Yahoo Finance, including BlackRock, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Vanguard, Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange.
- Use cases tested: equity settlement, asset transfers, collateral, securities lending, Treasury repo and securities posted as margin.
- October 2026: broader commercial launch with twenty signatories and gradual onboarding of additional firms.
JPMorgan tokenized QQQ positions and used them to meet margin requirements at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, a concrete example of a tokenized asset mobilized as collateral, which is one of the technology’s core promises.
“DTCC is connecting traditional finance and decentralized finance so that capital markets run on the same infrastructure that has supported global financial markets for decades.”
Brian Steele, President of Securities Services, DTCC
Twenty institutions have signed access agreements, including Bank of America, Barclays, Citi, Fidelity Investments, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Citadel Securities, State Street and UBS. The service was designed with more than 50 firms in the DTCC Industry Working Group, among them BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, Circle, Ondo Finance, Ripple Prime and Robinhood.
An Infrastructure Race Is Accelerating
DTCC is not moving alone. Nasdaq is developing with Payward, the parent of Kraken, a framework for issuing shares on blockchain, with a potential launch in 2027. Nasdaq and the NYSE are also preparing trading infrastructure for tokenized securities. Intercontinental Exchange, the NYSE’s parent, plans to run a blockchain trading venue with the crypto platform OKX under the SEC’s innovation exemption.
Citi estimates the tokenized securities market could reach $5.5 trillion by 2030 as financial institutions adopt blockchain more widely. Ondo Finance announced tokenized share representations built on DTC’s tokenized rights at the same time, through its CRCLon and SPYon products.
Roadmap and Open Questions
DTCC selected Chainlink to power its Collateral AppChain, targeted for launch in the fourth quarter of 2026. The platform is designed to handle valuation, margin calculation and settlement of tokenized collateral on a continuous basis. The roadmap adds Stellar and Arc in 2027, along with tools for settlement in digital money and the use of tokenized securities as collateral.
One inconsistency remains across sources. One report describes Stellar as the first public blockchain in DTCC’s multichain strategy, while CoinDesk describes Canton as a public network and Genfinity says the service already relies on Canton. The claim that Stellar would be the “first” public blockchain is therefore not established.
Outlook and Scenarios
The central scenario depends on a gradual widening of participants and on tokenized collateral entering margin management from the fourth quarter of 2026. Tokenization does not replace traditional record-keeping; it makes it programmable, which could shorten settlement cycles and improve liquidity, but widespread adoption is far from assured.
Three scenarios remain open. In the first, volumes rise and settlement costs fall. In the second, use stays confined to firms already present. In the third, fragmentation between public and private networks complicates interoperability. Tracking volumes, the duration of the no-action relief and the 2027 roadmap will show which path materializes.
Sources
- CoinDesk, October 28, 2026
- Yahoo Finance, first live trades
- CNBC, July 15, 2026
- DTCC, May 2026 press release
- Genfinity, July 14, 2026
- PYMNTS, 2026
Cet article est publié à titre informatif et éducatif. Il ne constitue en aucun cas un conseil en investissement. Faites vos propres recherches (DYOR) avant toute décision.
