The Deposit and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the central conduit behind U.S. capital markets, said it is preparing to support digital representations of all 1.4 million securities currently held within its custody systems, deepening its efforts in tokenization and redefining how far this technology can reach in U.S. capital markets.
DTCC’s tokenization platform (built after its 2023 acquisition of Security) has already been made public, but new comments Thursday from Brian Steele, DTCC’s president of clearing and securities services, suggest the effort is much broader in scope than previously understood.
“Our goal is to ultimately enable investors to access the entire market of DTC-eligible securities that are digitally eligible and onboarded through direct registration, approximately 1.4 million CUSIPs,” Steele said during a recent panel discussion alongside Nadine Chakar, DTCC’s global head of digital assets.
Its ambitions hint at a future where stocks, mutual funds, fixed income products, and other products can all be moved on-chain, at least in tokenized form, on demand. The rollout is opt-in and no assets are forced to be migrated. However, DTCC is building an infrastructure designed to allow participants to convert their securities to tokenized form and back again in as little as 15 minutes.
The system allows clients to access decentralized financial strategies and 24/7 payment rails while maintaining connectivity with traditional market liquidity. Tokenized assets retain existing ownership, legal protection, and bankruptcy protection.
“We are not dictating which wallet or blockchain our clients should use,” Chakar said. “Everything we do is meet them where they are.”
First focus: Collateral
While the long-term vision is broad, DTCC is starting with one use case that will garner attention in the short term: collateral optimization.
By enabling atomic payments and 24/7 movement of collateral, DTCC aims to help businesses access new financing strategies and move capital more efficiently across geographies and time zones. Tokenized cash via stablecoins or deposits is also supported.
“Collateral is the first port of call,” Steele said. “Today, we’re seeing real, measurable impact there.”
No bridge, more standard
DTCC also took a firm stand against blockchain bridges, citing security concerns. Instead, tokens are written and reissued as they move between chains under the control of DTCC’s orchestration layer.
Chakar emphasized the importance of interoperability built on standards, not just connectivity. “What we have now is interconnectivity and it’s not really the same, but we’re on a journey and we’re definitely committed to working with industry to get there.”
With one of the world’s largest inventories of financial assets, DTCC’s tokenization roadmap has the potential to reshape the post-trade landscape by digitizing what already exists, rather than reinventing markets.
“Tokenization has moved from being a point of discussion to a point of evidence,” Chakar said. “Right now we are building the production infrastructure, but it is not theoretical.”
