The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation plans to launch its Tokenization Service this month. More than 30 firms already used its tokenized securities services in July.
The service is scheduled for commercial launch in October 2026, with detailed announcements expected in mid-October. It will let participants create tokenized versions of eligible securities held in custody at The Depository Trust Company, the DTCC subsidiary better known as DTC.
The tokens are designed to keep the same legal rights and investor protections as the underlying book-entry securities. DTC remains the official record keeper.
The initial offering is set to include 25 tokenized securities representing approximately $30 trillion in assets. The lineup draws from Russell 1000 equities, major ETFs, and US Treasuries.
The chains, the standards, and the testers
At launch, tokenization will run on a permissioned, multi-chain basis using the Canton Network and Hyperledger Besu. The tokens follow established technical formats on each network. On Canton, they use the CIP-56 standard. On Besu, they use ERC-20, the same token format behind much of the Ethereum ecosystem.
The setup supports 24/7 peer-to-peer transfers between registered wallets on the same chain. A token on Canton cannot simply hop to a wallet on Besu, at least not at launch.
As of July 15, 2026, more than 30 firms were testing various institutional workflows on these networks. Participants included BlackRock and JPMorgan.
How we got here
The regulatory green light came in December 2025. The SEC issued a No-Action Letter allowing a controlled pilot focused on highly liquid assets over three years.
The effort grew out of an industry working group that committed to advancing interoperability. DTCC has also signaled what comes next. Additional capabilities are anticipated in 2027. The firm is exploring other networks, including Stellar and Circle’s Arc, depending on market demand.
What this means for markets and crypto
The research behind the rollout suggests tokenizing approximately $30 trillion in assets could enhance liquidity, increase collateral mobility, and lower transaction costs.
There are open questions worth watching. The first is how quickly activity scales beyond the 30-plus testing firms once the service goes commercial. The second is whether the same-chain limitation creates fragmented pools of liquidity. A tokenized ETF on Canton and the same ETF on Besu would be twins that cannot easily trade with each other.
The mid-October announcement should clarify pricing, participant eligibility, and the exact roster of securities. The three-year clock on the SEC relief is also ticking. DTCC has until late 2028 under the current No-Action framework to show the model works.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.