The Depository Trust Company, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation's securities depository, launched its tokenization service on Wednesday. It lets eligible participants convert securities held at DTC into blockchain tokens and back again, starting on two networks: the Canton Network and DTCC's private Besu chain.
Twenty DTC participants have signed agreements to use the service, DTCC said, with more to be onboarded on a rolling basis. They include Bank of America, Barclays, Citi, Fidelity Investments, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Citadel Securities, State Street and UBS. Mirae Asset Securities (USA) is also among the names listed. Ondo Finance, Broadridge, DRW and Fireblocks are named as ecosystem collaborators.
Thirty-four securities are eligible at launch, drawn from the same asset set the SEC cleared in a no-action letter last December: Russell 1000 stocks, exchange-traded funds that track major indices and US Treasuries. Each token is backed one-for-one by a security held at DTC, which keeps the official ownership records. Tokens can move between registered wallets around the clock. DTCC is targeting conversion times of 15 minutes or less.
Moving a token from one chain to another goes through DTC's conversion service, which runs from 2am to 6pm Eastern Time on business days. That means 24/7 transfers work only within a single chain. The same service converts positions between conventional and tokenized form during those hours.
Northeast Times also noted that BNY, the largest custodian, and Goldman Sachs, which took part in July's live trials, are not on the list of 20. DTCC says it will add more participants over time, and more than 150 firms advised on the design through its industry working group. Stellar and Arc are planned as additional networks in 2027.
The launch matches the timetable DTCC set in May, when Blockhead reported that DTCC planned limited production trades in July and a full launch in October . It follows the December no-action letter, which Blockhead covered when SEC Chair Paul Atkins said markets were poised to move onchain .
In August, Blockhead reported on the completed trial with more than 40 firms , alongside an IMF warning about faster settlement and a lobbying push by transfer agents for issuer-sponsored tokens.
That last debate is still open. DTCC's model keeps tokens tied to securities at DTC, which sits closer to the transfer agents' preference than to third-party stock tokens. Blockhead covered a parallel route in August, when Bitwise said it planned to put Solana ETF shares in tokenized form through a transfer agent . Market data from May had already shown demand, when tokenised equities hit $3.57 billion in daily volume and DTCC's launch was flagged as the next catalyst.
For Canton, the launch is another institutional milestone. Blockhead reported in June that its developer Digital Asset raised $355 million with backing from banks and market makers. DTCC's service puts the network next to a private chain it controls, so participants can choose the venue for each position.
Twenty signed firms is a start. How quickly volume grows depends on how many participants move beyond agreements to live conversions, and on whether the two-chain model attracts the custodians that are missing from the list. Citi analysts have projected that tokenized securities could become a $5.5 trillion market by 2030, and DTCC's service is the first piece of the US post-trade system built to carry them.
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