The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation
Thomas Sullivan
October 2026
Thomas Sullivan, managing director, head of digital asset solutions at the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, sits down with Justin Lawson at Sibos 2026 to discuss the forthcoming launch of the firm’s Tokenization Service and what its clients believe are the most significant use cases for the technology
Image: The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation
Tell us a little bit about your role at DTCC. Where do you fit into the organisation and the broader digital asset space?
As managing director, I lead digital asset solutions at the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC).
In my role, I work with other colleagues across the company to bring the DTCC Tokenization Service (DTS) to life as a product following the 2025 no-action relief we received from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
We are offering an optional service for our members to take traditional assets custodied by the Depository Trust Company (DTC) and tokenise them, with approximately US$114 trillion in securities on deposit.
DTS enables the issuance of tokenised representations — also referred to as digital twins — of real-world assets that can be delivered to DTC Participants’ digital wallets of choice.
The DTC-held securities can be converted between traditional and tokenised forms, allowing clients to access new liquidity pools and execute digital asset strategies with more flexibility.
DTCC conducted live production trades for its Tokenization Service in July. What lessons have been learnt from that exercise?
The DTCC Tokenization Service was built by the industry, for the industry.
We have done a significant amount of work with our members and their clients to identify what, exactly, they want to achieve with tokenisation. We also convened the DTCC Digital Assets Solutions Industry Working Group, which now has over 120 members, to provide input and feedback on the service.
DTS combines institutional-grade controls, established governance and operational safeguards to support adoption across traditional and digital markets.
In July, we had more than 30 firms representing a cross-section of TradFi institutions and digital market participants involved in the production trades, conducting approximately 22 transactions across eight use cases.
The feedback from the live production exercise was valuable, particularly the explanations behind why and how the firms wanted to use tokenised assets.
It’s not just for assets at rest; it’s for assets in motion. Our clients want access to their assets 24/7, and through our July demonstration, we ascertained that transactions can be conducted on a blockchain in a way they cannot in traditional form.
DTCC also observed a consistent pattern: collateral management and mobility are key areas of interest for our members and the broader digital asset ecosystem.
This, to me, is not surprising given that blockchain can operate 24/7 with no end clock or time stops and offers more just-in-time activity for collateral.
We settled a repo transaction, for example, in 15 or 20 minutes when typically those markets operate on an overnight basis.
DTS allows you to measure your settlement time in minutes — not days or hours – and across time zones.
What does DTCC believe are the main benefits of the Tokenization Service for market participants?
The DTS will provide market participants with real-time collateral mobility, enhance liquidity and capital efficiency, reduce counterparty risk and support interoperability between traditional and digital ecosystems
There is also a key benefit from 24/7, year-round operation, and it can be broken down in a couple of ways.
The first is atomic settlement: the real-time ability to settle activity that comes with the DTS. There are, of course, instances in which a person or institution needs to access assets right away, and our offering enables that.
The second comes from a trading perspective. DTCC has clients who are, in some way, already active within the crypto markets.
If they want to collateralise crypto activity over the weekend with real-world assets, once launched, the DTS allows that to happen. Even on the traditional side, markets — such as FX — are beginning to support 24/5 trading activity.
What can we expect with the go-live in October? What assets will be included, and which market participants will be ready?
DTCC is expecting most of the institutions that joined in July to be a part of the launch, as well as some additional clients.
We’re really excited about the strong level of interest in the DTS and will continue onboarding new joiners on a rolling basis.
We are also expanding the scope of our assets, increasing from around 10 across Treasuries, ETFs, and equities to a larger pool that includes some, but not all, eligible assets under our SEC no-action relief.
DTCC is taking a ‘crawl, walk, run’ approach to the pool of available assets.
We have spent a significant amount of time with both our members and their clients identifying what it is they want to do and how exactly they wish to do it.
We are prioritising the specific assets participants intend to use at launch.
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