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The UK’s home for tokenised equity. Independent news, insight and resources for founders raising capital, investors deploying it, and the firms supporting both — as the regulation, infrastructure and opportunity converge.

A 50 Firm Pilot Backed by BlackRock and Goldman Sachs goes 'Live'.

  • Writer: Shawn Jhanji
    Shawn Jhanji
  • 9 hours ago
  • 3 min read
The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation began limited production trades of tokenised Russell 1000 stocks, exchange traded funds and US Treasuries this week, moving the world's largest securities depository from pilot planning into live settlement on blockchain rails for the first time. DTCC confirmed the go live in a post on 14 July, pointing to a full commercial launch scheduled for October 2026. The July trades run through ComposerX, the platform DTCC built to mint, manage and settle tokenised representations of securities already held in custody at DTC, which currently safekeeps more than $114 trillion in assets. The tokens are not synthetic exposure. They carry the same entitlements, investor protections and ownership rights as the underlying securities, with the legal record staying inside the regulated depository rather than migrating onto a chain untethered from DTC's existing infrastructure.

The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation began limited production trades of tokenised Russell 1000 stocks, exchange traded funds and US Treasuries this week, moving the world's largest securities depository from pilot planning into live settlement on blockchain rails for the first time.


DTCC confirmed the go live in a post on 14 July, pointing to a full commercial launch scheduled for October 2026. The July trades run through ComposerX, the platform DTCC built to mint, manage and settle tokenised representations of securities already held in custody at DTC, which currently safekeeps more than $114 trillion in assets. The tokens are not synthetic exposure. They carry the same entitlements, investor protections and ownership rights as the underlying securities, with the legal record staying inside the regulated depository rather than migrating onto a chain untethered from DTC's existing infrastructure.


The pilot draws on an Industry Working Group of more than 50 financial firms that has been shaping the design since the start of the year. The roster spans the full market structure: banks including Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan, Lloyds Bank and UBS; trading venues and brokers such as Charles Schwab, Citadel Securities, Nasdaq, NYSE Group and Robinhood; asset managers BlackRock, Franklin Templeton and Invesco; and digital asset infrastructure firms including Anchorage Digital, Circle, Fireblocks and Ripple.


Frank La Salla, DTCC's president and chief executive, described the effort as bridging traditional finance and decentralised finance. Nadine Chakar, the firm's global head of digital assets, called it a critical step toward building tomorrow's digital infrastructure.

The regulatory groundwork was laid in December 2025, when the SEC issued DTCC a no action letter carving out a three year window to tokenise a defined set of highly liquid instruments: Russell 1000 constituents, major index ETFs, and Treasury bills, notes and bonds. That clearance predates this week's go live, which removes a large source of launch risk ahead of the broader October rollout.


Why UK founders and investors should pay attention


DTCC is not a peripheral name in Britain's own tokenisation push. It sits inside the 54 firm taskforce convened by Chris Woolard, HM Treasury's Wholesale Digital Markets Champion, alongside Euroclear UK & International, LSEG and Fireblocks, working toward a live tokenised repo trial by spring 2027 and a first UK digital gilt by early 2027.


For the UK market infrastructure providers and law firms advising on that domestic roadmap, DTCC's move from announcement to production is the clearest evidence yet that a G7 depository can tokenise live assets without rebuilding investor protections from scratch. It is a template being watched closely as institutions work out how much of DTCC's approach, tokenising records inside an existing regulated custodian rather than issuing natively on a public chain, can be adapted for CREST and Britain's own settlement infrastructure.


Key Takeaways


  • DTCC began limited production trades of tokenised Russell 1000 stocks, ETFs and US Treasuries on 14 July 2026, with a full commercial launch set for October.

  • The tokens sit on top of securities already held at DTC, carrying identical entitlements and ownership rights rather than creating synthetic exposure.

  • More than 50 firms are involved, including BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan, Citadel Securities and Circle.

  • DTCC operates under a December 2025 SEC no action letter giving it a three year window to tokenise this asset set.

  • DTCC also sits on the UK's own 54 firm tokenisation taskforce, making this pilot a live reference point for Britain's parallel roadmap toward tokenised repo and a digital gilt.


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