BREAKING: The SEC has approved the DTCC to tokenize U.S. stocks, bonds, and ETFs on blockchain, with a pilot set to roll out in 2026 that could enable faster settlement, 24/7 markets, and programmable securities while preserving legal protections. Wall Street just went on-chain.
Context in a Nutshell
In a landmark decision for digital asset finance, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a No-Action Letter that allows the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) to tokenize U.S. equities, ETFs, Treasury bills, and bonds on blockchain networks. This pilot program, set to launch in the second half of 2026, will let DTCC's subsidiary, the Depository Trust Company (DTC), represent traditional securities on pre-approved chains while preserving investor rights and regulatory protections.
What You Should Know
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a No-Action Letter authorizing the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the backbone of U.S. market infrastructure, to tokenize stocks, ETFs, bonds, and U.S. Treasuries on blockchain networks.
The approval allows DTCC's subsidiary, the Depository Trust Company (DTC), to operate a tokenization service on pre-approved blockchains for three years, with a production rollout in the second half of 2026.
Tokenized securities will carry the same legal ownership rights, entitlements, and investor protections as their traditional equivalents, with blockchain representations tied 1:1 to the underlying assets.
The effort is pitched not as a replacement of existing markets but as a controlled pilot intended to marry blockchain efficiency with regulated market safety, potentially enabling faster settlement, 24/7 access, improved collateral mobility, and programmable asset features.
This marks one of the most significant U.S. regulatory endorsements of real-world asset tokenization, signaling growing regulatory comfort with blockchain-based financial market infrastructure.
Why Does This Matter?
This is experimentation on the fringes, and a regulatory green light for one of the world's most critical market infrastructures to bridge legacy finance and blockchain. Tokenizing real-world assets could enable faster, potentially round-the-clock settlement, reduce reconciliation friction across markets, and unlock programmable features previously limited to crypto-native systems, all within a structured, supervised regime.
As Wall Street's plumbing meets blockchain rails, the future of capital markets could move from batch-oriented, time-boxed settlement windows to continuous, programmable markets. The era of on-chain institutional finance is starting, and regulators are now part of the journey.
