DTCC to link its tokenization service to Solana in 2027

What happened

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation said on Nov. 12 that it intends to connect its tokenization platform to the Solana blockchain in the second half of 2027, a plan first detailed in reports by Unchained and Blockonomi. The link would let eligible clients of the Depository Trust Company convert holdings into tokens on Solana and back again, with DTC continuing to keep the official record either way.

DTCC presented the move as an extension of the Tokenization Service it launched on Oct. 28 rather than the creation of a separate securities platform. Under the plan, the Solana connection would handle conversions of eligible DTC-held assets as well as the servicing work that follows a token through its life. The company did not identify which assets would be made available on the network.

Brian Steele, president of DTCC Clearing & Securities Services, said tokens issued on Solana would keep the same investor protections, ownership rights and regulatory safeguards that apply to securities held in the traditional system. Nick Ducoff, general manager for institutional at the Solana Foundation, said in the announcement that institutions turn to Solana because it already runs real financial activity at scale.

Why it matters

The significance lies less in the technical work than in who is doing it. DTCC sits at the center of U.S. clearing, settlement and custody, and its tokenization effort has so far been a pilot conducted within the boundaries of an SEC staff no-action letter. Adding a public chain that already carries substantial trading and decentralized finance activity puts a major piece of market infrastructure in direct contact with that ecosystem.

The company's own description stays narrow. Tokens on the service carry no collateral or settlement value in DTCC's risk checks, and wallet registration is limited to participants, the firms that hold accounts at DTC, with tokens able to move only between those registered wallets. Chief executive Frank La Salla said the Solana plan would give participants greater choice and that tokenized assets could widen liquidity and improve collateral mobility. Those are stated aims rather than results already shown on Solana.

What the data shows

By Unchained's count of DTCC's own documents, Solana is the fifth network named for the service. Eligible securities are limited to Russell 1000 stocks, Treasury bills, notes and bonds, and exchange-traded funds that track major indices. The service operates under a no-action letter that SEC staff sent DTC on Dec. 11, 2025, stating that staff would not recommend enforcement action over the service as DTC described it; the letter names no blockchain and the staff position lapses three years after the pilot version launches. DTC has said it will publish a list of public and private ledgers where participants may register wallets.

Background

The Tokenization Service has been running since Oct. 28, when it went live on two networks: the Canton Network, which DTCC has described as public, and the company's private Besu network. At launch, 20 DTC participants had signed agreements to use the service and 34 securities were available for conversion, according to Blockonomi. Morgan Stanley said six days after the launch that it was already using the service.

Solana's place on the schedule follows earlier announcements for other chains. A May 27 release set Stellar for the first half of 2027. DTCC's own overview lists Circle's Arc blockchain, where DTCC is a founding validator, only as expected during 2027, while Circle said in August that the connection would begin in the second half of the year. DTCC has said the roadmap is subject to change.

What to watch

Several details remain open. DTCC has not named the assets Solana would receive, nor which participants would use the connection, and it has not disclosed security counts for any launch on the network. The 2027 target, like the Stellar and Arc dates, is forward-looking. Also worth tracking is Formation Securities' plan for a Solana trading venue for tokenized shares in 2027, and whether the SEC staff position underpinning the service is extended before it expires.

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