Wall Street backbone DTCC brings $30 trillion securities closer to blockchain with major banks
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) has gone live with its tokenization service, bringing select U.S. stocks, ETFs and Treasury securities onto blockchain infrastructure.
The service is available on the Canton Network and DTCC's private Besu blockchain, initially supporting 34 securities from the Russell 1000 index, ETFs and U.S. Treasury bills, notes and bonds. These represent approximately $30 trillion in market value, according to a DTCC spokesperson.
Market Infrastructure Shift
The debut is a significant step for Wall Street's tokenization push because DTCC sits at the center of how U.S. securities markets work. Through its subsidiaries, the firm handles clearing, settlement and custody for much of the country's stock and bond trading, with more than $114 trillion in securities held at its depository.
Bringing blockchain technology into the system could make tokenized assets part of mainstream market infrastructure rather than a separate market operating alongside it. Tokenization promises to make financial assets easier to transfer, settle and use as collateral.
Wall Street Adoption
Twenty participants have signed agreements to access the service, including Bank of America, Barclays, Citi, Fidelity Investments, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Citadel Securities, State Street and UBS. DTCC said more firms will join over time.
Eligible firms can convert securities into tokens during business hours, with DTCC targeting processing times of 15 minutes or less. Once tokenized, the assets can move between registered blockchain wallets around the clock, subject to compliance restrictions.
The tokens are backed one-for-one by securities held at DTCC subsidiary Depository Trust Company (DTC), and preserve existing shareholder rights while allowing 24/7 transfers between registered wallets.
Future Expansion
DTCC's road map includes adding Stellar and Circle Internet's Arc blockchain next year, along with broader corporate-action support and tools for settling transactions with digital cash. The company also plans to add functionality for using tokenized securities as collateral.
Analysts at Citi projected tokenized securities will become a $5.5 trillion market by 2030 as more financial institutions adopt blockchain technology. The rollout follows a demonstration earlier this year and plans announced in May.
Other market operators are moving in the same direction, with Nasdaq and NYSE developing tokenized securities trading infrastructure, while ICE is set to operate a blockchain-based trading venue with crypto exchange OKX.
Related
