RWA Tokenization Infrastructure Map: Stellar, Ethereum, Ondo, and Canton — Who Will Become the Final Settlement Layer?

In May 2026, the U.S. Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) officially announced that its subsidiary, the Depository Trust Company (DTC), will integrate tokenization services onto the Stellar public blockchain. It is expected that tokenized assets held by DTC will be available on the Stellar network in the first half of 2027.

The uniqueness of this partnership lies not only in the partner itself—DTCC processes approximately $114 trillion in securities transactions annually and manages over $90 trillion in custodial assets, serving as the "hidden heart" of the global capital markets—but also in the underlying network choice.

Market attention centers on several questions: Why did DTCC choose Stellar over Ethereum? What roles do Stellar, Canton, and Ondo play in the RWA tokenization landscape? As tokenized securities accelerate their rollout in 2026, which platform has the best chance to become the ultimate institutional settlement infrastructure layer?

Why Did DTCC Choose Stellar?

Infrastructure Decision Factors

In DTCC’s announcement of its partnership with Stellar, Nadine Chakar, head of digital assets, explicitly pointed out that Stellar’s compliance architecture, scalability, transaction throughput, and cost efficiency were the core reasons for the choice.

The reasoning behind this decision is relatively clear. DTCC is no stranger to blockchain. In December 2025, the SEC issued a no-objection letter to DTC, approving its controlled environment tokenization of RWAs, covering assets such as Russell 1000 index constituents, major index ETFs, and U.S. Treasuries, with a three-year validity.

Following regulatory approval, DTCC needed to select a specific blockchain network to support the issuance and settlement of tokenized securities. The logic can be understood from the following dimensions:

First, institutional-grade infrastructure. Since its launch in 2014, Stellar has been designed primarily for cross-border payments and asset issuance, not for general-purpose smart contracts or decentralized applications. According to DTCC’s public statements, DTC’s tokenized assets will retain the same investor protections and safeguards as traditional securities.

Second, built-in compliance capabilities. Stellar’s architecture natively integrates asset control functions, allowing issuers to finely tune transfer permissions. This feature is especially valuable for regulated securities requiring strict KYC/AML and investor eligibility enforcement. As Stellar Foundation CEO Denelle Dixon stated, Stellar maintains 99.99.99% uptime, processes billions of transactions quarterly, and compliance modules are directly embedded into the network architecture.

Third, scalability matching large transaction volumes. DTCC handles millions of dividend payments and securities settlements daily, demanding high throughput. Stellar’s typical transaction capacity reaches 1,000–2,000 transactions per second, with individual transaction costs around $0.00001, sufficient for DTCC’s scale.

Fourth, multi-chain strategic positioning. DTCC President and CEO Frank La Salla clarified that integrating Stellar is part of its push toward building an “open, interoperable digital infrastructure,” constituting a component of DTCC’s multi-chain strategy. This suggests Stellar is not necessarily the only chosen blockchain but one of the initial access points in DTCC’s multi-chain architecture.

The Catalyst Role of the No-Objection Letter from the SEC

The no-objection letter issued by the SEC in December 2025 is a prerequisite for DTCC’s decision to advance its tokenization pilot and a key regulatory foundation for the official launch of tokenized securities in 2026–2027. This regulatory signal directly addresses Wall Street’s long-standing core question: Are tokenized securities legal under current law? The SEC explicitly stated in the letter that DTC’s tokenized assets will enjoy the same investor protections, rights, and safeguards as traditional securities, clearing key regulatory hurdles for future tokenized ETF products.

According to DTCC’s public plan, the tokenized securities platform will launch a pilot in July 2026 and officially go live in October.

The Deep Map of Four Major Infrastructure Tracks

This section provides a structured analysis of the main participants across four dimensions: settlement execution capability, compliance and regulatory friendliness, interoperability, and ecosystem fit.

Stellar: Compliance Foundation of the Financial-Grade Settlement Layer

Core Positioning: Public chain for regulated securities issuance and settlement

Stellar’s most distinctive feature is its native compliance architecture. Unlike general-purpose public chains, Stellar’s infrastructure is designed from the ground up with embedded compliance functions such as asset control and account permission management, tailored for financial scenarios.

Technical Architecture: Stellar’s core ledger uses the Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP), fundamentally different from PoW or PoS. SCP relies on Federated Byzantine Agreement (FBA), where a trusted set of validators confirms transactions without full network competition, enabling faster confirmation times and lower energy consumption.

Soroban Smart Contract Platform: Launched in 2024, Soroban is Stellar’s smart contract platform, built with Rust, providing programmability while maintaining native speed. It is an incremental addition layered on the existing Stellar ledger, not replacing the original transaction system.

X-Ray Privacy Upgrade (Protocol 25): In January 2026, Stellar deployed the X-Ray protocol upgrade on mainnet, adding zero-knowledge proof capabilities to Soroban smart contracts. This upgrade allows institutions to implement “auditable privacy,” satisfying compliance review needs without revealing transaction details, offering practical value for regulated environments.

RWA Ecosystem Data: As of April 2026, Stellar’s RWA market (excluding stablecoins) surpassed $2 billion on April 11. Its Soroban TVL reached a record $235 million on April 30, mainly driven by RWA tokenization. Notable applications include Franklin Templeton’s tokenized funds, PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin, and Visa’s low-cost settlement solutions, all operating on Stellar.

Ethereum: RWA Ecosystem and Liquidity Hub

Core Positioning: Benchmark layer for diverse asset issuance and ecosystem depth

Ethereum is currently the most widely distributed blockchain in the RWA tokenization space. Industry data shows Ethereum accounts for about one-third of the total RWA market, with Provenance (~27%), BNB Chain, XRP Ledger, and Solana (~6% each) holding other major shares.

Ethereum’s core advantage lies in its comprehensive ecosystem as the world’s largest smart contract platform. Currently, the total size of tokenized real-world assets globally is about $65 billion, with a significant portion issued on Ethereum, including BlackRock’s tokenized funds via Securitize and JPMorgan’s tokenized money market funds.

However, Ethereum’s network congestion and fluctuating gas fees, along with its relatively weak embedded compliance features, are structural limitations for large-scale regulated securities settlement. This was a key factor in DTCC’s final choice of Stellar over Ethereum.

Canton Network: Privacy and Interoperability “Institutional-Grade Bridge”

Core Positioning: Cross-chain interoperability and privacy infrastructure for institutions

Canton Network’s role in the DTCC ecosystem differs markedly from Stellar. In April 2026, DTCC announced it would use Canton as the underlying infrastructure for its U.S. Treasury tokenization pilot. Canton offers several key capabilities:

Asset Isolation and Privacy: Canton’s subnet architecture allows transaction data to be visible only to necessary parties, not broadcast across the entire network—highly practical for regulated financial transactions.

Cross-Chain Interoperability: Canton enables atomic settlement across heterogeneous ledgers via smart contract architecture, allowing assets to flow between different blockchains without relying on centralized bridges.

Existing Institutional Network: DTCC and Euroclear operate nodes on Canton, which is already connected to top-tier financial institutions like Goldman Sachs and BNY Mellon.

A critical logical point is that Canton and Stellar are not direct competitors but serve complementary functions. Canton acts as an “interoperability layer,” connecting different blockchains and internal institutional ledgers; Stellar functions as a “settlement execution layer,” supporting specific issuance and transfer of tokenized assets.

Ondo Finance: Liquidity Engine for Tokenized Asset Protocols

Core Positioning: Protocol for issuing tokenized U.S. Treasuries and yield assets

Among the four participants, Ondo’s role is the most distinct—it is not a general blockchain network but a tokenized asset issuance protocol operating across multiple blockchains (Ethereum, Solana, etc.).

As of May 2026, Ondo holds about 60% of the tokenized equity market, with approximately $557 million in assets across 230 issuances. On Stellar, Ondo’s tokenized yield products account for about $123 million.

If the RWA tokenization ecosystem is likened to a transportation system, the roles of various protocols are roughly as follows: Ethereum is a “hub of multiple highways,” Stellar is a “dedicated express lane to institutional sites,” Canton connects highways and local roads, and Ondo is a “standardized fleet of transport vehicles.” This coexistence of roles reflects the current state of RWA infrastructure.

Infrastructure Panorama

| Dimension | Stellar | Ethereum | Canton | Ondo | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Core Positioning | Regulated securities settlement layer | General asset issuance hub | Cross-chain interoperability layer | Tokenized asset protocol | | 2026 RWA Scale | ~$2 billion (excluding stablecoins) | ~$21 billion (~1/3 market share) | Pilot stage | ~$1.14M | | Compliance Architecture | Native embedded asset control | Relies on off-chain compliance solutions | Subnet asset isolation | Protocol-level compliance | | Relationship with DTCC | Selected asset custody chain | Not DTCC’s primary choice | Infrastructure for Treasury pilot | Asset issuer | | Representative Applications | Franklin Templeton tokenized funds, PYUSD | BlackRock tokenized funds, JPMorgan funds | Treasury tokenization pilot | Tokenized Treasuries/yield products |

Note: Ethereum’s RWA scale is an industry estimate covering all tokenized assets on-chain, with differences from Stellar’s data. Stellar’s data excludes stablecoins. All figures are as of Q1–Q2 2026.

Key Timeline and Trend Projections

2025–2027 Tokenized Securities On-Chain Pathway Map

Based on current disclosures, the following key dates are noteworthy:

• December 2025: SEC issues no-objection letter to DTC, providing regulatory certainty for tokenized securities.
• May 2026: DTCC officially announces integration with Stellar as the settlement infrastructure for tokenized securities.
• July 2026: DTC’s tokenization pilot begins, supported by over 50 financial institutions.
• October 2026: DTC’s tokenization service is planned to go live.
• First half of 2027: DTC’s tokenized assets are expected to be available on Stellar.

Market Size Projections

Currently, the global RWA market has grown to about $65 billion, up 44% from around $45 billion at the start of 2026. U.S. Treasuries remain the largest segment at approximately $12.78 billion; commodities (~$5.4 billion), asset-backed credit (~$3.19 billion) follow.

Industry analysts’ forecasts for mid- to long-term market size vary. Some estimate that by 2027, the tokenized RWA market could reach $200 billion or more, driven by larger institutional adoption, clearer regulation, and more mature infrastructure. Several major economies (South Korea, Japan) are advancing legislation for tokenized securities; South Korea plans to implement its regulatory framework by February 2027, and Japan’s FSA expects to complete reclassification of cryptocurrencies as financial products within the 2027 fiscal year.

Notably, DTCC CEO Denelle Dixon has explicitly stated in interviews that tokenized assets will be distributed across multiple public blockchains, not concentrated on a single network. Future dominant RWA issuance is likely to be captured by a few networks leveraging different technological advantages. This suggests a multi-chain coexistence will be the norm rather than the exception in the future of tokenized securities infrastructure.

Conclusion

Returning to the core question of this article: who will be the final settlement layer for RWA tokenization?

Based on current data and project layouts, there is no single definitive answer. Stellar has secured an early lead with its compliance architecture and institutional-grade infrastructure; Ethereum, with its unmatched ecosystem depth and liquidity, will continue to host a large share of RWA issuance and trading; Canton’s interoperability layer plays a unique role in connecting heterogeneous ledgers and internal systems; Ondo focuses on product innovation at the protocol level.

Ultimately, the competition for the settlement layer is a competition across different layers: the settlement execution layer (Stellar vs. other public chains), the interoperability layer (Canton vs. cross-chain protocols), and the protocol layer (Ondo vs. other protocols). These three levels are not zero-sum but serve distinct, indispensable roles within the RWA tokenization ecosystem.

For market participants, the key may not be finding a “single winner,” but understanding the market segments served by these four infrastructure types and evaluating asset allocation and trading strategies accordingly. When DTCC—an infrastructure that processes $114 trillion annually and manages over $90 trillion in custody—integrates blockchain into its core operations, the distance between crypto and Wall Street may have never been closer.