U.S. DTCC to Launch DTC Asset Tokenization Platform in October [Crypto Briefing]

[Financial News] DTCC, a core infrastructure institution in the U.S. financial market, plans to launch a tokenization service in October for assets held by its subsidiary depository, The Depository Trust Company (DTC). Before that, DTC will begin limited real-asset trading tests this month using Russell 1000 Index constituents, major index-tracking exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and U.S. Treasury securities.
According to DTCC and industry sources on the 9th, the project will include major financial firms such as BlackRock, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, as well as crypto companies including Circle, Ondo Finance and Robinhood Markets, in an industry working group.
Earlier, DTC received a no-action letter from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in December last year, allowing it to tokenize real assets held in custody on a blockchain basis. Under the plan, DTC will be able to tokenize and trade highly liquid assets such as Russell 1000 Index constituents, major ETFs and U.S. Treasuries for participating institutions and investors on pre-approved blockchains over the next three years. A no-action letter is not a regulatory exemption, but rather a form of conditional approval in which the SEC agrees not to take enforcement action if certain requirements are met.
DTCC said the new tokenization service will be implemented within DTC's existing ledger system and is designed to preserve the same rights structure, investor protections and ownership framework as traditionally held assets. In effect, it is an experiment that connects back-office functions such as custody, settlement, rights management and ledger reconciliation to blockchain infrastructure, while ensuring equivalence between physical securities and tokens in terms of rights and assets.
In South Korea's capital market, competition over trading infrastructure has begun with the launch of NextTrade, an alternative trading system (ATS), while discussions are also under way to institutionalize Security Token Offerings (STOs). Experts say that while trading infrastructure competition focuses on fees and execution speed, competition in registration and settlement infrastructure is directly tied to asset equivalence, identification of rights holders, ledger consistency and legal validity.
In a recent report, the Korea Capital Market Institute analyzed that major central securities depositories (CSDs), including DTCC, are upgrading their infrastructure by linking virtual assets to issuance, custody, settlement and rights management systems rather than treating them as a separate market disconnected from financial market infrastructure. Interoperability is emerging as a key challenge in this process. The institute said common standards are needed for asset and liability recognition, ownership verification, asset transfer protocols, ledger management and legal and regulatory consistency.
An industry source said, "DTCC's full-scale move to tokenize DTC-held assets marks the starting point for turning U.S. stocks, ETFs and Treasuries into an 'on-chain liquidity pool.'" The source added, "South Korea's STO debate is also likely to come down to a choice over how far depository and settlement infrastructure should be linked with blockchain."

elikim@fnnews.com Kim Mi-hee Reporter