The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the core post-trade infrastructure provider for U.S. capital markets, is significantly expanding its commitment to tokenization by preparing to support digital representations of all 1.4 million securities held within its custody system. This move signals a major step toward integrating blockchain technology into traditional financial markets while preserving existing legal and operational frameworks.
DTCC’s tokenization initiative builds on its 2023 acquisition of Securrency and aims to make all DTC-eligible securities digitally accessible through an opt-in model. According to Brian Steele, DTCC’s President of Clearing and Securities Services, the goal is to allow investors to digitally onboard the full universe of U.S. securities, including equities, mutual funds, and fixed-income products, via direct registration. Importantly, securities will not be forced on-chain, but market participants will be able to convert assets into tokenized formats and back within approximately 15 minutes.
The platform is designed to give institutions access to decentralized finance strategies, 24/7 settlement, and more efficient capital movement, while maintaining ties to traditional market liquidity. Tokenized securities will retain the same ownership rights, legal protections, and bankruptcy treatment as their conventional counterparts, addressing key regulatory and risk concerns.
DTCC’s initial focus is on collateral optimization, an area where tokenization can deliver immediate benefits. By enabling atomic settlement and round-the-clock collateral mobility, firms can unlock new financing opportunities and deploy capital more efficiently across global markets. The system will also support tokenized cash, including stablecoins and tokenized deposits, to streamline settlement processes.
DTCC has also taken a clear stance against blockchain bridges due to security risks. Instead, it plans to rely on standardized interoperability, using a model where tokens are burned and reissued when moving across blockchains under DTCC’s orchestration layer. This standards-based approach aims to enhance security and scalability.
With one of the world’s largest inventories of financial assets, DTCC’s tokenization roadmap could transform post-trade operations by digitizing existing markets rather than disrupting them. As DTCC executives emphasize, tokenization is shifting from experimentation to production-grade infrastructure, marking a pivotal moment for digital assets in U.S. capital markets.
