Key Takeaways
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The Depository Trust Company (DTC) has received approval to pilot a securities tokenization scheme.
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The DTC will now establish standards that could define the future of tokenization.
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Participants in the tokenization pilot are expected to receive a list of approved blockchains.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has granted the Depositary Trust and Clearing Company (DTCC) approval to develop a securities tokenization program.
The Depository Trust Company, a DTCC subsidiary, is now tasked with developing standards to record the ownership of stocks, ETFs, and Treasuries on the blockchain.
Some of the first tokenized securities in the U.S. include money market funds like Franklin Templeton’s FOBXX and BlackRock’s BUIDL.
Although these are real, regulated products, they exist outside of DTCC clearing and settlement.
Up until now, blockchain-powered issuance and settlement have existed as parallel rails that remain subordinate to the core financial infrastructure.
With a no-action letter from the SEC, the DTCC will move forward with a pilot tokenization scheme expected to launch in the second half of 2026.
As the United States’ primary central securities depository, pretty much every transfer of U.S. equities, corporate bonds, or notes runs through the DTCC, which processed transactions worth $3 quadrillion in 2023.
When it sets standards, they have implications for capital markets around the world.
In other words, the future of securities tokenization—questions like which blockchains will be approved and what kind of information tokens must be inscribed with—now rests with the DTC.
Rather than prescribing a particular blockchain, the SEC has tasked the DTC with defining objective technology standards that platforms must meet.
In practice, however, the organization will maintain a list of approved blockchains that meet its criteria.
Participants in the tokenization pilot are expected to receive this list in the coming months.
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