DTCC plans to connect its upcoming tokenized securities platform to the Stellar (XLM) network, with tokenized assets held through its Depository Trust Company expected to become available on Stellar in the first half of 2027. The announcement matters because DTCC sits at the center of Wall Street market infrastructure and oversees more than $114 trillion in assets.
The Stellar integration is intended to support the issuance, settlement, and lifecycle management of tokenized securities. It also leaves room for later projects tied to highly liquid assets such as major indexes and U.S. Treasuries. For traditional finance, this is less about a simple network connection and more about shifting parts of securities processing onto blockchain-based rails.
Why Stellar was already in the picture
According to Stellar Development Foundation CEO Denelle Dixon, the relationship between the two sides stretches back close to a decade. A major link came through Securrency, the institutional tokenization platform acquired by DTCC in 2023, which later became part of DTCC Digital Assets.
Dixon said Securrency had worked closely with Stellar developers on features that regulated financial institutions needed in order to issue assets onchain. Those functions included clawback capability, compliance controls, and transfer restrictions. She said those tools were later built directly into the Stellar network, and that some members of the team had been working with Stellar for years.
Tokenization growth is pulling in market infrastructure firms
The deal arrives as tokenization has become one of the busiest areas across crypto and traditional finance. In practice, tokenization means representing assets such as U.S. Treasury bonds, money market funds, stocks, or private credit as digital tokens that can be issued, traded, and settled on blockchains. Supporters of the model argue it can reduce settlement times, free up collateral tied up in legacy systems, and extend market activity beyond standard trading hours.
Forecasts cited in the report show how large the opportunity could become. Standard Chartered projected $2 trillion in tokenized assets by 2028. BCG and Ripple estimated the market could reach $18.9 trillion by 2033. Those figures do not point to a single winning network, but they help explain why firms tied to core financial plumbing are moving into the sector.
Franklin Templeton used Stellar for fund recordkeeping
Dixon also pointed to Franklin Templeton’s early work on Stellar as an example of how blockchain can be used for books and records, not just asset distribution. She said the asset manager began exploring Stellar in 2019 and launched its onchain money market fund, BENJI, in 2021. The goal was to place fund records on a single shared ledger instead of relying on multiple databases.
BENJI became one of the earlier regulated tokenized fund examples in the market. The report said it helped open the way for today’s tokenized Treasury segment, which has grown to about $15 billion and now includes firms such as BlackRock, JPMorgan, and Fidelity.
Open blockchains still need compliance layers for institutions
For regulated firms, faster settlement is only part of the equation. Securities laws, sanctions rules, and investor protection requirements mean blockchain infrastructure must support identity checks, transfer restrictions, and privacy controls. Dixon said this is where Stellar’s earlier work with Securrency became useful.
She said Stellar’s architecture allows issuers to add compliance, identity controls, and privacy protections on top of an open network. Issuers can decide whether transfers require KYC checks, whether assets can be frozen or clawed back, and how much transaction information remains visible. In her description, the base layer stays open, while institutions determine how compliance and privacy settings are applied.