DTCC Tokenization Service Goes Live Oct. 28 on Canton and Besu, With Securities Count Stated as 25 and 34

Twelve days after DTCC published the full design of its Tokenization Service on Oct. 16, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation switched it on today, Oct. 28.

The service runs on two networks: Digital Asset's Canton Network and DTCC's own private Hyperledger Besu blockchain. It covers select large-cap stocks from the Russell 1000, select exchange-traded funds, and U.S. Treasury bills, notes and bonds.

"Today marks the culmination of years of work to bring tokenized securities into a regulated framework supported by trusted market infrastructure," said Frank La Salla, DTCC's president and CEO.

How the tokens work

Every token is backed one-for-one by a security held at the Depository Trust Company, DTCC's subsidiary. Each carries the same CUSIP number, legal rights and investor protections as the underlying book-entry security. DTC keeps the official books and records.

The tokens follow the ERC-3643 standard and are ERC-20 compatible. They are built on DTCC's ComposerX application suite and its Compliance Aware Token Framework, so compliance rules are written into the token's smart contract.

That design limits where they can go. Tokens can move 24/7 on the same chain, but only between DTC-registered wallets. This is a closed, permissioned system, not an open market.

Converting a traditional security into a token, or back, happens through a user interface or API between 2 a.m. and 6 p.m. ET on business days. DTCC targets processing in 15 minutes or less.

The numbers don't line up

DTCC's pre-launch materials said the service would start with 25 securities, backed by an asset pool of roughly $30 trillion. That is about a quarter of the more than $114 trillion held at DTC.

A DTCC spokesperson told CoinDesk that the product website lists 34 securities as eligible at launch, representing approximately $30 trillion in market value. DTCC has not publicly reconciled the 25 and 34 figures.

The $30 trillion is also the market value of the underlying securities that could be tokenized. It is not the amount that has been tokenized, and no source has put a figure on tokens issued so far.

Who is already in

The launch follows a July 15 production event in which more than 30 firms converted DTC-held equities, ETFs and Treasuries into tokens. They used them in live trades covering collateral pledges, securities lending, Treasury repo, equity delivery-versus-payment and central-counterparty margin workflows. The industry working group behind the design had grown to more than 100 members and partners by July.

Crypto Briefing reports that major banks including JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup are among the participants joining the launch. DTCC has not published a participant list in the material released so far.

The service operates under SEC no-action relief. One account of the design describes it as a three-year letter granted in December 2025. A no-action letter is a statement of staff enforcement posture. It is not a rule, and it does not change the securities laws.

Citi analysts have projected that tokenized securities will become a $5.5 trillion market by 2030. That is a forecast from a bank with its own interest in the market, not a measured result.

What DTCC says comes next

The 2027 roadmap adds public networks, starting with Stellar and Circle's recently launched Arc. DTCC also plans:

• digital cash integrations
• on-chain netting for settlement and collateral
• expanded asset servicing for corporate actions on equities and ETFs
• a consolidated stock record merging book-entry and on-chain positions into one view
• single sign-on and maker-checker validation workflows
• a wider pool of eligible DTC participants, with all Russell 1000 constituents, more ETFs and broader Treasury instruments

Treasuries get on-chain servicing from day one, with distributions and maturities processed on the ledger, per the published design.

The next concrete test is 2027, when the public-chain connections and digital cash settlement are due. Until then, DTCC has to settle which number is right: 25 securities at launch, or 34.