DTCC, the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation, is the most significant institution in the processing of securities worldwide: in 2019 its various arms processed $2.15 quadrillion’s worth of securities transactions.
It’s at the heart of the infrastructure that blockchain could, in theory, make redundant. DTCC has pursued its own initiatives in using distributed-ledger technology. Then last year it took the next step and began to get its head around the emerging prospect of asset tokenization: creating securities in purely digital form.
If securities tokens are to go mainstream and scale, it will likely require the participation of DTCC and firms like it.
So what is the latest in DTCC’s thinking?
Jennifer Peve, managing director for business innovation at DTCC in Jersey City, N.J., says the firm has looked at two use cases: private markets and STOs (security token offerings).