DTCC to Run Limited Tokenized Asset Trades in July

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) announced it will begin initial, limited production trades of tokenized real-world assets in July 2026, ahead of a wider service rollout scheduled for October. The program follows feedback from more than 50 firms, including BlackRock and Circle, and will operate under authorization from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The SEC issued a No-Action Letter allowing DTCC to offer tokenization of eligible assets for a three-year period, subject to conditions in the authorization. Eligible instruments include names in the Russell 1000, exchange-traded funds that track major U.S. equity indices, and U.S. Treasury bills, bonds and notes.

DTCC described the July activity as a controlled, production-level test permitting trades in certain highly liquid securities represented on pre-approved blockchains. The initial phase is limited to specific instruments and blockchains to contain operational and market risk during the trial.

More than 50 firms are part of a DTCC Industry Working Group providing feedback on the platform and operational procedures. Participants include asset managers and brokers such as BlackRock, custody and token firms including Circle, and market infrastructure firms like Morgan Stanley, Nasdaq, Payward (Kraken's parent company) and Robinhood Markets.

The SEC has emphasized that tokenized securities remain securities and must comply with U.S. securities laws. The agency has also been developing an “innovation exemption” intended to function as a regulatory sandbox for on-chain assets, allowing limited testing of new market structures.

“Our vision is coming to fruition: launching our tokenization service and successfully bridging TradFi and DeFi,” Frank La Salla, DTCC president and CEO, said. He added, “We believe tokenization will significantly change how markets work and operate, bringing new levels of liquidity, transparency and efficiency to investors.”

Market participants and regulators have called for clear rules on custody, investor protections, operational resilience and the choice of blockchains used for tokenized securities. The three-year authorization gives DTCC and participants a defined period to test technical, legal and operational issues.

Asset managers, trading venues and regulators will monitor the July pilot and the October rollout to assess whether on-chain representations of securities can be integrated with existing custody, clearing and settlement systems without disrupting market operations.