DTCC eyes October tokenized securities launch with 50 DeFi and TradFi giants

Written by Robert Lakin⁠, Staff Editor. Reviewed by Sam Bourgi⁠, Staff Editor. Written by Robert Lakin⁠, Staff Editor. Reviewed by Sam Bourgi⁠, Staff Editor. DTCC eyes October tokenized securities launch with 50 DeFi and TradFi giants Latest NewsPublishedMay 4, 2026

With $114 trillion in custodied liquid assets, Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation looks to position tokenization as future of existing financial system.

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) plans to pilot trading of tokenized securities in July with a goal of a full service launch in October.

The post-trade market infrastructure giant said Monday that more than 50 TradFi and DeFi firms will play a role in the design and deployment of the service. That DTCC Industry Working Group includes Alpaca, Anchorage Digital, BitGo Bank & Trust, BlackRock, Circle and Fireblocks, along with some of the biggest banks in the country.

Source: DTCC

DTCC, which currently custodies $114 trillion in liquid assets from stocks to exchange-traded funds, said it expects the service will enable tokenization of real-world assets that provide the same entitlements, investor protections and ownership rights as the assets held in traditional form.

In December, DTCC received permission from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to offer tokenization services on pre-approved blockchains for three years.

“Although this program is a pilot subject to various operational limitations, it marks a significant incremental step in moving markets onchain,” SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce said at the time.

Related: Tokenized assets climb to $23.6B as investors seek always-on markets

While the pilot phase will test limited production trades, the full service is expected to tokenize a specific set of some of the most-widely traded liquid assets, including exchange-traded funds tracking major indexes, Russell 1000 constituents, US Treasury bills, bonds and notes, according to DTCC’s announcement.

Tokenized RWA market grows, but remains concentrated

The value of tokenized real-world assets have surged 66% in 2026, with funds, gold and equities driving growth across public blockchains.

Data from the analytics platform RWA.xyz show that tokenized stocks alone expanded from $375.4 million on May 3, 2025, to about $1.21 billion on May 3, 2026. Kraken’s xStocks platform has emerged as one of the more visible entrants, reporting more than $25 billion in cumulative trading volume since launching last year.

In January, the New York Stock Exchange and its parent company, the Intercontinental Exchange, announced the development of a new platform to trade tokenized stocks and ETFs. The platform, subject to regulatory approvals, is intended to underpin a new NYSE trading venue for tokenized securities.

Tokenized stocks have recently topped $1.2 billion in value. Source: RWA.xyz

Rather than creating a parallel crypto-native marketplace, the venue is designed to operate within existing US market rules while leveraging blockchain-based settlement infrastructure.

Both NYSE Group and Kraken's parent, Payward, are part of the DTCC Industry Working Group announced Monday.

In March, TD Securities’ Reid Noch, vice president for electronic trading, said tokenization is beginning to carry real implications for market structure, pointing to the NYSE’s proposed tokenized equities alternative trading system as a key development.

Noch described the structure as closer to a “2.0” market shift, where custody and settlement would remain anchored to the DTCC, while trading would comply with National Best Bid and Offer requirements.

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