The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation plans to start limited production trades of tokenized securities in July 2026.
Summary
- DTCC plans July tokenized securities pilots before targeting a full service launch in October 2026.
- Over 50 TradFi and DeFi firms joined DTCC’s working group, including BlackRock, Circle and Ondo.
- Initial tokenized assets may include major index ETFs, Russell 1000 stocks and U.S. Treasury securities.
The post-trade market infrastructure group aims to launch the full DTC tokenization service in October 2026.
DTCC said the service will cover real-world assets held in DTC custody. The firm said tokenized assets should carry the same rights, investor protections and ownership claims as securities held in traditional form. DTC currently provides custody and asset servicing for more than $114 trillion in securities.
Wall Street and DeFi firms join design work
The DTCC Industry Working Group includes more than 50 firms from traditional finance and crypto. The list includes BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Circle, Fireblocks, Robinhood, Ondo Finance, Ripple Prime, NYSE Group, Nasdaq and Payward, Kraken’s parent company.
The group brings together asset managers, banks, trading venues, custodians, brokers and blockchain service providers. DTCC said it will use their feedback to test technical workflows, market readiness and the use of tokenized assets in a live production setting.
Additionally, DTC received a no-action letter from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in December 2025. The letter allows DTC to offer a defined tokenization service for DTC participants and their clients for three years.
The approval covers a set of highly liquid assets. These include Russell 1000 constituents, ETFs that track major indexes, U.S. Treasury bills, Treasury notes and Treasury bonds. The July phase will remain limited as DTCC tests operations before the planned October launch.
Tokenization push moves closer to core markets
DTCC President and CEO Frank La Salla said, “Our vision is coming to fruition.” Brian Steele, DTCC managing director and president of clearing and securities services, said the service is “designed to provide systemic scale where deep liquidity already lives.”
The plan comes as tokenized real-world assets keep drawing attention from banks, asset managers and crypto firms. RWA.xyz data showed tokenized stocks rising from $375.4 million in May 2025 to about $1.21 billion in May 2026.
Ondo Finance’s role adds another crypto-focused participant to the working group. A crypto.news report said DTCC had selected Ondo alongside BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Circle and other firms to help shape how equities and Treasuries move on-chain.
DTCC is not building a separate crypto market. Its stated plan keeps custody, ownership rights and investor protections tied to existing securities infrastructure. The October target now gives banks, brokers and tokenization firms a clear schedule to test whether blockchain-based settlement can fit within U.S. market rules before the service moves beyond its trial stage.
