The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), whose depository holds more than $114 trillion in securities, switched on its tokenization service on Wednesday. DTCC's press release says its Depository Trust Company (DTC) can now mint "tokenized representations" of securities it already holds, and 20 firms have signed agreements to use it, from J.P. Morgan, Citi and Bank of America to Fidelity, Edward Jones and brokerage-infrastructure firms Alpaca and DriveWealth.

DTCC posted the news on X a little after 7:30 a.m. CT:

What DTCC switched on

  • Digital twins of shares DTC already holds. DTCC calls the tokens "digital twins" that keep "the ownership rights, investor protections and economic entitlements" of the original security. Its launch fact sheet says they carry the same CUSIP, the standard ID number for a U.S. security, and that "official books and records remain with DTC." Tokens can be converted back to the traditional form.
  • What's eligible on day one. DTCC's service page lists 34 securities available to tokenize at launch, a mix of stocks, ETFs and U.S. Treasuries. (The PDF fact sheet says 25. We're using the service page's number, which TokenPost and Ledger Insights also report.)
  • Which blockchains. The service runs on the Canton Network and DTCC's own private network built on Besu, an Ethereum-compatible client. The fact sheet lists Stellar and Circle's Arc as "anticipated in 2027."
  • When things move. Per DTC's notice to participants, orders to convert between traditional and token form run Monday through Friday, 2 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET, with a 15-minute target. Once tokenized, a position can move 24/7, but only between approved wallets on a supported network.

How it got here

DTC got a no-action letter from SEC staff in December 2025 that covers Russell 1000 stocks, ETFs tracking major indexes and U.S. Treasuries. DTCC puts that eligible pool at about $30 trillion of the more than $114 trillion DTC holds. About seven months later, DTCC and more than 30 firms ran limited live trades. TokenPost dates those to July 15 and says they covered collateral pledges, securities lending, Treasury repo and stock trades.

DTCC says it built the service with input from more than 150 firms. Besides the 20 users, it names 17 "collaborators and partners," including BitGo Bank & Trust, Fireblocks, Broadridge, Ondo, Tradeweb and Virtu. CEO Frank La Salla called it "the culmination of years of work."

What it doesn't do (yet)

This isn't something you or I can sign up for. Only DTC participants, meaning banks and brokers, can tokenize. DTCC didn't disclose how much has been converted so far. Ledger Insights points out two names missing from the 20: BNY, the biggest custodian, and Goldman Sachs, which took part in the July trials. It also notes that moving a token from one chain to another goes through DTC's conversion desk, so the 24/7 part only works within a single chain for now. How the cash side settles is still up to participants. On-chain netting and "digital cash" sit on the 2027 roadmap.

Why it matters to a regular holder

Nothing changes in your brokerage account today. But if your broker is on that list of 20, the shares it holds for you could someday move as tokens behind the scenes, with DTC still keeping the official record. Our tokenization explainer covers how tokenized stocks and bonds work. We also covered the SEC's first three tokenized stock venues, which take a different route.