Wall Street's market infrastructure has taken a decisive step towards tokenisation after the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation confirmed that its subsidiary, the Depository Trust Company, received a no-action letter from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission authorising a new tokenisation service.
The approval allows DTC to tokenise certain DTC-custodied assets on pre-approved blockchains for an initial three-year period, while maintaining the same legal entitlements, investor protections and ownership rights as their traditional counterparts.
DTCC said the clearance represents an historic milestone that embeds tokenisation directly within systemically important market infrastructure rather than treating it as an experimental or peripheral technology.
“In an historic milestone, DTC received a no-action letter from the SEC to tokenize certain DTC-custodied assets,” DTCC said, adding that blockchain would help bridge traditional finance and decentralised systems.
The framework ensures that tokenised assets benefit from the same levels of resiliency, safety and soundness that underpin existing U.S. capital markets, addressing long-standing institutional concerns around custody and legal certainty.
Frank La Salla, president and chief executive of DTCC, said, “Tokenizing the U.S. securities market has the potential to yield transformational benefits such as collateral mobility, new trading modalities, 24/7 access and programmable assets.”
La Salla added that these benefits would only be realised if market infrastructure provides a robust and trusted foundation capable of supporting a new digital era for securities markets.
The no-action letter also signals growing regulatory comfort with blockchain-based representations of highly liquid financial instruments, including major equity indices, exchange-traded funds and U.S. Treasury securities.
Market participants view the decision as a turning point because it formally integrates tokenisation into core post-trade processes rather than positioning it as a niche innovation outside established systems.
DTCC managing director Brian Steele said the initiative demonstrates that innovation can scale without compromising the resilience that underpins the stability of U.S. financial markets.
Nadine Chakar, managing director and head of digital assets at DTCC, said distributed ledger technology enables greater programmability and asset mobility while preserving trust and market integrity.
The tokenisation service is expected to follow a controlled rollout, with DTC planning to introduce the offering in the second half of 2026 following further industry engagement.
Analysts believe the decision could accelerate institutional adoption of tokenised securities by reducing regulatory uncertainty and aligning digital assets with familiar market safeguards.
As regulatory clarity extends to systemically important institutions, the move positions tokenisation as a structural evolution of capital markets infrastructure rather than a speculative trend.