DTCC Launches Tokenization Service for 34 Securities With 20 Financial Institutions
Key Facts
The Depository Trust Company (DTC), a subsidiary of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), launched its securities tokenization service on October 28, 2026, making it available to participants after a period of pilot trading. Thirty-four securities were available for tokenization at launch, while 20 DTC participants had signed agreements to access the service, according to the organization’s announcement. Signatories include Bank of America, Citi, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Fidelity Investments, among other institutions. The service allows digital representations to be created for real-world assets held at DTC, with the option to convert between traditional and tokenized forms. DTCC Chief Executive Frank La Salla said the launch “represents the culmination of years of work to bring tokenized securities into a regulated framework backed by trusted market infrastructure.”
DTCC says tokenized securities, which it describes as “digital twins,” retain the ownership rights, investor protections and economic entitlements of their corresponding traditional securities. The underlying assets remain held at DTC, while the digital representation allows tokenized entitlements to be transferred between registered wallets under the pilot framework. At launch, the service operates on Canton Network and DTCC’s private Besu network, according to the organization. DTCC plans to add other blockchain networks in 2027, in a gradual expansion of the service’s technical infrastructure. The launch announcement does not specify the volume of trading that will take place through the service once it is available to participants.
The launch follows tests of live transactions in DTC’s production environment. On July 15, 2026, DTCC completed production trades involving tokenized assets held in custody, with participation from more than 30 companies from traditional financial institutions and digital market participants. The operations included pledged collateral and securities lending, delivery-versus-payment transactions in U.S. Treasuries and equities, as well as tokenized share transfers and central counterparty margin workflows. DTCC also said the organization and more than 30 companies completed limited production trades and multiple on-chain transactions about seven months before launch. These steps mark the project’s move from testing to a service available to participants who signed access agreements.
The service’s regulatory framework is based on a no-action letter DTC received from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in December 2025. The letter allowed tokenization of Russell 1000 components, exchange-traded funds tracking major indexes and U.S. Treasuries. The service is subject to a 3-year exemptive period and allows eligible participants to tokenize selected assets held at DTC. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce said the program is “experimental and voluntary,” and that participants can transfer tokenized entitlements directly between registered wallets. Peirce also noted that differing tokenization models could raise distinct regulatory considerations.
DTCC says DTC’s assets under custody exceed $114 trillion, placing the new service within an established financial asset custody infrastructure. More than 150 companies contributed to its development through DTC’s Industry Working Group on Digital Asset Solutions. Among earlier trials cited by the organization, JPMorgan converted the Invesco QQQ fund into a tokenized asset and used tokenized assets to meet margin requirements at CME Group. Separately, the Associated Press reported in January 2026 that the New York Stock Exchange was working on a separate platform for round-the-clock digital asset trading, with instant settlement and stablecoin funding. DTCC plans to add blockchain networks to its service in 2027.