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The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation announced on December 19, 2025, that it has selected Digital Asset’s Canton Network as the first blockchain for its upcoming tokenization service, planning to mint a portion of custodied U.S. Treasuries on the permissioned ledger in a gated MVP during the first half of 2026.
DTCC teams up with Digital Asset Holdings and Canton Network to tokenize DTC-custodied securities on-chain. This marks the first step toward real-world assets on DLT—driving efficiency and market transparency.
Read the press release: https://t.co/ca2yaUXZ2I pic.twitter.com/GWXS4iP5Pi
— DTCC (@The_DTCC) December 17, 2025
The partnership follows the SEC’s December 12 no-action letter confirming DTCC’s compliance framework for tokenized securities, allowing the post-trade giant, which processes over $2 quadrillion in securities annually, to offer federally regulated tokenization without enforcement risk. DTCC emphasized a tech-neutral approach, stating it will not mandate a single blockchain and expects additional integrations; Canton met the firm’s “Tier 2” critical systems requirements for security and resilience.
DTCC CEO Frank LaSalla said in the statement: “Our partnership with Digital Asset and the Canton Network is a strategic advance as we work across the industry to create digital infrastructure that seamlessly connects traditional and digital finance with unparalleled scalability and security. This collaboration lays out a clear path to bring high-value tokenization use cases to market, starting with U.S. Treasuries and expanding to a wide range of DTC-eligible assets across multiple network providers.”
The DTCC-Digital Asset-Canton partnership will roll out over several years, but the initial phase is designed to deliver immediate value by giving market participants secure, regulated access to digitized instruments. This incremental strategy provides flexibility, allowing firms to adopt blockchain technology while remaining fully compliant.
“Our aim is to help the industry and DTC participants harness tokenization to boost liquidity, efficiency, and transparency,” said Brian Steele, Managing Director and President of Clearing & Securities Services at DTCC. “We’re excited to work with Digital Asset and the Canton Network to bring this first production environment online. It builds on DTCC’s earlier collateral mobility pilot and supports our wider goal of creating a secure, interoperable digital asset ecosystem that maximizes blockchain potential across networks without compromising traditional market safety.”
DTCC will also co-chair the Canton Foundation’s decentralized governance alongside Euroclear, giving it a direct role in shaping standards for the network’s financial infrastructure. Digital Asset CEO Yuval Rooz called the selection “validation of Canton’s privacy and interoperability for institutional RWAs,” noting its use by Goldman Sachs and others in prior pilots. The MVP will focus on Treasuries before expanding to equities and funds, with full services targeted for H2 2026.
It’s a real turning point.
DTCC + SEC no-action = Regulatory clarity on RWA tokenization.
Congrats to @CantonNetwork to be the first trusted partner to host DTC-custodied assets. Game changer! 💪 https://t.co/uDBynsFh9e
— Ella Zhang (@ellazhang516) December 17, 2025
Reacting to the news on X, Andrew Steinwold described Canton as “the fastest horse in the ‘institutional blockchain’ race.” Head of YZi Labs, Ella Zhang, called the development “a real turning point.”
DTCC will issue securities on-chain via Canton
Canton seems like it's the fastest horse in the "institutional blockchain" race https://t.co/KpTib1ZdrL
— Andrew Steinwold (@AndrewSteinwold) December 17, 2025
In another tweet, Gabriel Shapiro argues that the Canton Network has undermined tokenization’s disruptive potential by granting major control to established intermediaries like DTCC and Broadridge, both entities that blockchain should ideally replace. In a permissioned setup, this concentration of power is particularly problematic.
He warns that DTCC’s choice of Canton will ultimately hasten its own obsolescence, as Ethereum-based projects like MetaLeX Labs and Etherealize.io advance truly non-intermediated tokenization models.
Canton has taken the path of enshrining existing intermediaries (DTCC and Broadridge) that are prime candidates for disruption by tokenization. The *primary* point of tokenization should be to eliminate these intermediaries, instead Canton has given them significant ownership… https://t.co/TRrjtT4Ij6
— _gabrielShapir0 (@lex_node) December 17, 2025
Tokenized securities are expected to drive substantial cost savings and risk reduction for market makers, hedge funds, and other participants, while improving capital efficiency and strengthening balance sheets.
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