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- Morgan Stanley and 19 other firms signed agreements to access DTCC’s new tokenization service.
- The agreements establish access arrangements rather than completed transactions or active trading volumes.
- DTCC launched the service on October 28 across the Canton and Besu networks.
Morgan Stanley is among 20 firms that signed agreements to access DTCC’s tokenization service, which supports blockchain-based representations of eligible securities held at DTC. For eligible institutions, the service offers another way to move holdings and prepare assets for collateral use while preserving the underlying securities’ rights.
DTCC confirmed the agreements when the service launched on Oct. 28. They establish arrangements to access the service, rather than completed Morgan Stanley transactions or trading volumes.
Securities Stay Backed by DTC Holdings
The DTCC Tokenization Service (DTS) creates blockchain-based representations of rights to securities held at its depository subsidiary, DTC. Eligible participants can convert those rights between conventional account records and tokens delivered to registered digital wallets.
DTCC clears that the tokenized versions retain the ownership rights, investor protections and economic entitlements of their conventional counterparts. Investors therefore retain their underlying securities exposure when holdings move into tokenized form.
Transfers Can Continue Outside Market Hours
DTS supports around-the-clock token transfers between DTC-registered wallets. That gives institutions greater flexibility to move assets outside traditional operating hours, including when positioning holdings for collateral use.
Wallet access remains controlled. A tokenized stock being transferable at any hour does not mean every investor can trade it continuously through a public exchange or decentralized platform.
Eligible categories include selected Russell 1000 equities, major-index exchange-traded funds and U.S. Treasury bills, notes and bonds. Institutions must use supported securities and approved wallets, so access does not extend automatically to every holding in a portfolio.
Service Launches on Canton and Besu
The service launched on Canton Network and DTCC’s private Besu network. Participants can use supported blockchain infrastructure while keeping the underlying securities within DTC’s custody framework.
Other firms with access agreements include Citi, J.P. Morgan, Barclays, Bank of America and State Street. DTCC stated that the additional users would be onboarded on a rolling basis, allowing access to expand beyond the initial group.
