The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) announced on December 17, 2025 a partnership with Digital Asset Holdings and the Canton Network to tokenize a subset of U.S. Treasury securities custodied at The Depository Trust Company (DTC). The initiative, backed by a No-Action Letter from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), represents a pivotal step in moving tokenization from experimental pilots to the core of regulated market infrastructure.
Partnership Details and Timeline
Under the plan, DTCC will enable DTC-custodied U.S. Treasurys to be minted on the Canton Network for the first time. The organizations are working toward a minimum viable product (MVP) in a controlled production environment during the first half of 2026, with scope scalability based on client interest. DTCC will leverage its ComposerX platform suite to support issuance and lifecycle management while ensuring alignment with existing clearing and settlement processes.
Digital Asset Co-Founder and CEO Yuval Rooz described the collaboration as “a foundation for interoperable financial ecosystems that can unlock new liquidity, product innovation, and operational improvements across capital markets.” DTCC Managing Director Brian Steele stressed the goal of enhancing liquidity, operational efficiency, and market transparency while preserving regulatory compliance and market resiliency.
Significance of the SEC No-Action Letter
The SEC’s No-Action Letter allows DTC to operate a service for tokenizing real-world, DTC-custodied assets under regulatory clarity. This is a major regulatory breakthrough: prior tokenization projects were largely confined to sandbox environments or unregulated assets. DTCC noted that “adoption of tokenized securities could generate significant operational and financial efficiencies across market participants, including major market makers and hedge funds,” by streamlining processes, reducing operational risk, and enhancing capital efficiency.
Canton Network’s Role and Governance
Canton Network stated on social media platform X: “Minting and using U.S. Treasuries on Canton is coming in 2026, enabling tokenized USTs to be exchanged in near-real-time with stablecoins and other digital assets – all with the privacy and controls regulated markets demand. A major unlock for global collateral mobility to accelerate settlement, reduce risk, and optimize balance sheets.” DTCC will also co-chair the Canton Foundation alongside Euroclear, taking a leadership role in the network’s decentralized governance and reinforcing the move toward scalable, market-ready tokenized Treasury infrastructure.
Industry Implications and Outlook
The collaboration marks a historic milestone for tokenized assets. As the world's premier post-trade market infrastructure provider, DTCC’s involvement signals that tokenization is no longer a niche experiment but an inevitable upgrade for mainstream finance. The H1 2026 MVP is expected to pave the way for broader adoption of on-chain Treasurys for collateral, settlement, and liquidity management. With regulatory clarity gradually solidifying, tokenization is poised to reshape the operational fabric of global capital markets.