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The Depository Trust Company, a subsidiary of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, began operating the DTCC Tokenization Service on October 28, 2026, allowing eligible DTC participants to create blockchain-based representations of securities held in its custody. Twenty institutions have signed agreements to use it, Cointelegraph reported.
Each token is a one-for-one claim on a security staying in DTC custody, and it can be converted back to its traditional form, moved to a participating institution’s digital wallet, and keeps the same ownership rights and investor protections as the underlying asset. DTC holds more than $114 trillion in assets under custody, including stocks and exchange-traded funds; that figure describes the existing custody book, not the value of what is being tokenized.
Also read: Philippine SEC says legal framework ready for RWA tokenization
Key facts
- The service launched on October 28, 2026, ten months after the SEC issued a December 2025 no-action letter saying it would not recommend enforcement action against DTCC’s subsidiary over the program.
- At launch it runs on the Canton Network and DTCC’s private Besu network, with more chains planned for 2027.
- Twenty DTC participants signed on, a list that includes Alpaca, Citadel Securities, Citi, Clear Street, DriveWealth, Fidelity Investments, Interchange Clearing and JPMorgan.
- DTCC built the service with input from more than 150 firms in its DTC Digital Assets Solutions Industry Working Group, according to Crypto.news.
- Cryptobriefing reported the eligible pool of securities is worth about $30 trillion and initially spans roughly 25 to 34 liquid instruments: selected Russell 1000 equities, major index ETFs and US Treasuries.
How the tokens work
The underlying security does not leave DTC. The token mirrors it, retains its CUSIP identifier, and transfers only between registered wallets, per Cryptobriefing, which also reported that transfers are permitted between 2 a.m. and 6 p.m. ET. DTC keeps the authoritative ownership registry, so compliance checks stay with the institution that has always run them.
The design answers a question institutions have raised about tokenized assets: whether a blockchain entry carries the same legal weight as a book-entry position. Here the answer is that the token sits on top of the existing record rather than replacing it.
Also read: Blockchain.com expands tokenized stock offerings to over 430 as onchain equities market surges
Stellar first on the 2027 roadmap
The two reports differ on what comes next. Crypto.news, citing the Stellar Development Foundation, said DTCC plans to launch on Stellar first, following a discussion between DTCC Digital Assets head Nadine Chakar and Stellar CEO Denelle Dixon at the Meridian 2026 conference. Stellar shared comments from Chakar describing the chain as meeting DTCC’s requirements, saying it “went through them with flying colors”. The integration was first announced in May, with the companies targeting the first half of 2027.
Cryptobriefing reported that DTCC plans to expand to Stellar and Circle’s Arc in 2027, an addition that would bring a crypto-native player alongside institutional networks. Cointelegraph, meanwhile, said only that more blockchain networks would be added in 2027 without naming them.
The two outlets also list overlapping but not identical groups of signed institutions, and Cointelegraph cites the July 2026 pilot while Cryptobriefing puts its participant count at more than 30 firms.
Why it matters
DTCC is the back office where most US securities trades settle, so a tokenized twin that stays inside its registry gives banks faster settlement and asset mobility without forcing them onto open, permissionless rails. Participation is limited to DTC participants, wallets must be registered and transfer hours are fixed, which makes this an extension of existing market plumbing rather than a step into decentralized finance. The gap between roughly $30 trillion in eligible securities and more than $114 trillion in custody leaves room to grow if the first phase runs cleanly.
What to watch
The first public blockchain deployment is the next test: Stellar has been targeted for the first half of 2027, and the planned Arc integration, the pace of onboarding further DTC participants, and any widening of the initial 25 to 34 instruments will show how far DTCC is willing to open its rails.
Reported by cointelegraph.com.
Sources: Cointelegraph, Crypto.news, Cryptobriefing