DTCC Tokenization Plan: How Stocks and Bonds Move Onto Blockchain by Mid-2026

The landscape of financial assets is shifting as the SEC grants institutional clearance for a landmark blockchain infrastructure project. The Depository Trust Company, a subsidiary of DTCC, has received regulatory approval to begin tokenizing a broad range of securities including Russell 1000 stocks and US Treasury instruments. This development signals a turning point for how traditional financial assets—both stocks and bonds—may operate in digital form over the coming years.

Russell 1000 Stocks and US Treasuries Enter the Blockchain Era

The DTC’s tokenization service will commence operations in the second half of 2026, marking the first major institutional rollout of this scale. The program targets Russell 1000 stocks, ETFs benchmarked to major market indexes, and the full suite of US Treasury securities: bills, bonds, and notes. Unlike experimental blockchain projects, this initiative operates within a structured regulatory framework, running on pre-approved blockchain networks for an initial three-year period.

What makes this initiative significant is its scope. By bringing together both equity securities and fixed-income assets—stocks and bonds—onto a unified blockchain infrastructure, the DTCC is testing whether different asset classes can coexist seamlessly in tokenized form. DTC participants and their institutional clients will gain direct access to this new ecosystem, fundamentally changing how these financial instruments settle and trade.

Equal Rights for Tokens: Digital Stocks and Bonds Mirror Traditional Securities

The regulatory approval hinged on a critical guarantee: tokenized versions of stocks and bonds will maintain identical legal standing to their non-tokenized counterparts. Ownership rights remain unchanged. Investor protections apply uniformly. This legal parity is essential for institutional adoption—participants need assurance that a tokenized share of a Russell 1000 stock carries the same claim as a traditional share, and that a tokenized Treasury bond provides equivalent protection.

DTCC CEO Frank La Salla emphasized the strategic rationale, noting that blockchain tokenization could enable collateral mobility across markets, unlock new trading protocols, facilitate around-the-clock market access, and allow assets to become programmable. These capabilities apply equally to both stocks and bonds, though the specific use cases may differ.

The $400 Trillion Opportunity: Why Financial Institutions Are Watching

The SEC’s approval arrives amid broader regulatory openness to blockchain financial infrastructure. Chair Paul Atkins, who previously advised crypto-focused organizations, has guided the agency toward measured clarity rather than blanket restrictions. Recent months have seen multiple no-action letters—regulatory signals that the SEC will not pursue enforcement action if programs operate as described—issued to blockchain projects and digital asset custodians.

Research from Animoca Brands quantifies the potential prize: the RWA tokenization market could theoretically access a $400 trillion pool representing traditional finance assets including private credit, treasury debt, commodities, stocks, bonds, alternative funds, and other instruments. By 2030, the tokenized securities market alone could grow to $16 trillion, according to the 2025 Skynet RWA Security Report.

Early evidence appears in real-world pilots. Standard Chartered’s venture capital arm recently backed Libeara, a blockchain infrastructure platform that launched a tokenized gold investment fund in Singapore. This proof-of-concept demonstrates that institutional investors are ready to engage with blockchain-based tokens when regulatory pathways become clear.

From Approval to Implementation: What Happens Next

The DTC’s approval represents more than a single company achievement—it reflects acceptance of blockchain as viable infrastructure for institutional finance. Stocks and bonds, representing the foundations of capital markets, tokenizing through this pathway legitimizes the entire RWA ecosystem. If the three-year pilot succeeds, expect rapid expansion to additional asset classes and geographies.

For institutional investors accustomed to traditional settlement processes, the shift to blockchain-based stocks and bonds promises efficiency gains that compound across the financial system. The approval is not permission to abandon traditional methods, but rather official recognition that parallel systems can coexist during a transition period. What unfolds in the second half of 2026 may reshape how institutional finance operates for decades to come.