In brief
- Morgan Stanley said its among the first banks to tokenize U.S. equities and Treasuries through the DTCC Tokenization Service, which launched Oct. 28.
- The service converts DTC-held securities into tokenized “digital twins” with the same rights as the originals, running on the Canton Network and DTCCs private Besu network.
- Twenty firms have signed on so far, including Bank of America, Citi and J.P. Morgan.
Morgan Stanley has started moving U.S. stocks and Treasuries onto blockchain rails, using Wall Streets own plumbing to do it.
The bank said Tuesday that its among the first to tokenize real-world assets through the DTCC Tokenization Service, converting U.S. equities and Treasuries into tokenized form.
The service, which went live Oct. 28, is run by the Depository Trust Co., a subsidiary of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. The DTC is the post-trade backbone of U.S. markets, with more than $114 trillion in assets under custody.
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“The hands-on experience of integrating tokenized securities with established market infrastructure will inform the continued development of the firm‘s digital asset capabilities as the market evolves,” said Amy Oldenburg, Morgan Stanley’s head of digital assets strategy.
The service lets eligible firms convert securities held at DTC into tokenized “digital twins” and back again, delivering them to digital wallets of their choice. The tokens keep the same ownership rights, investor protections and economic entitlements as the originals, according to DTCC, and are designed to let firms move collateral and tap new pools of liquidity within minutes. The service currently runs on the Canton Network and DTCCs private Besu network, with more blockchains planned for 2027.
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Morgan Stanley is one of 20 DTC participants that have signed up so far, alongside Bank of America, Citi, J.P. Morgan, Fidelity Investments, Citadel Securities, and UBS, among others. DTCC said it developed the service with input from more than 150 firms.
The launch caps a regulatory path that began in December 2025, when the SEC gave DTC a no-action letter allowing it to tokenize Russell 1000 stocks, major index ETFs and U.S. Treasuries. DTCC has also worked with Chainlink on tokenized collateral management and laid out its plans for the service earlier this year as major Wall Street firms signed on.
The bank-led approach contrasts with crypto-native efforts to tokenize stocks. Fifty-six companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, Amazon, and Nvidia, have objected to having their shares traded on OKXICE TSV, a planned tokenized stock venue from OKX and NYSE owner Intercontinental Exchange. Under the SECs innovation exemption, those objections bar the venue from listing third-party tokenized versions of their stock.
Demand is building, but the market is still young. The International Monetary Fund found last month that tokenized stocks trade mostly outside U.S. market hours, though they remain more volatile and less liquid than their traditional counterparts.
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