Morgan Stanley Among First Major Banks to Tokenize US Stocks and Treasuries Through DTCC

Morgan Stanley, which oversees roughly $10 trillion in assets, has become one of the first major banks to convert US equities and Treasury securities into tokenized form using the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation's new Tokenization Service, known as DTS. The move marks a significant step in bringing blockchain infrastructure into the core of US capital markets.

DTCC launched DTS on October 28, running on the Canton Network and a private Besu blockchain. Under the service, DTCC's Depository Trust Company mints tokens representing securities it already holds in custody, with those tokens retaining the same ownership rights and investor protections as the original assets. Holders can exchange between tokenized and conventional forms.

Twenty firms have signed up for the service. DTCC says tokenization can improve liquidity, simplify collateral transfers and make capital use more efficient, benefits that have drawn major institutional players to the platform in its opening days.