SEC allows DTCC to officially put trillions of US Treasury bonds and stocks on the blockchain.

When observing the implementation of Blockchain in the financial system, if you want to determine whether the U.S. financial system has truly begun to treat Blockchain as an “internal tool,” there is one signal that is more direct than any statement — whether the clearing and settlement systems are willing to use it.

Recently, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved, in the form of a “No-Action Letter,” the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) to custody and recognize tokenized stocks and other real-world assets on a pre-approved Blockchain.

This is not a single-point innovation of a financial institution, but rather one of the core infrastructures of the American capital market, which has officially obtained the regulatory space for conducting securities-level asset recording and custody on the Blockchain.

The status of DTCC

In the US stock market, what investors truly hold is not the “physical ownership” of a company's stock, but rather a book entry recognized by law within the DTCC system.

Almost all U.S. listed stocks and fixed income products ultimately settle, clear, and register through the DTCC. It does not directly face retail investors, but it serves as the “back office ledger” for the entire market.

It is precisely for this reason that when DTCC is authorized to transfer the ownership representation of securities-grade assets to the Blockchain, the significance does not lie in “using new technology,” but rather in the fact that the Blockchain is beginning to be allowed to carry one of the core accounting functions of the U.S. capital markets.

This is something that no commercial bank or crypto-native institution has been able to accomplish on its own before.

Enter the “Settlement Core”

According to the disclosed information, DTCC will launch a limited pilot on the Canton Network to convert its custody of U.S. Treasury securities into Blockchain tokens.

It is important to emphasize that in the pilot:

• The government bonds themselves are still retained in the centralized ledger system of the DTCC;
• On-chain tokens serve only as a digital representation of ownership and rights.

This is not about “moving national bonds out of the system”, but rather introducing a layer of on-chain representation and settlement logic** on top of the existing system.**

From an institutional perspective, it at least clarifies three things:

First, tokenized securities are no longer just a proof of concept.

With the SEC's clear knowledge and authorization, tokens can be used to express securities rights without being directly denied as “non-compliant structures.”

Second, on-chain accounting begins to enter the settlement layer, rather than the peripheral application layer.

Previously, Blockchain was often used for information synchronization, reconciliation, or internal process optimization, while DTCC touches on the most core aspect of clearing and settlement.

Third, T+1 is not the endpoint, but a transitional form

When asset ownership exists in a programmable form, the time difference between transaction and settlement theoretically has the conditions for further compression.

Regulatory authorities' tacit approval

More noteworthy is the regulatory approach.

The SEC did not pass comprehensive rule amendments, but instead allowed the DTCC to carry out related business within a limited scope and timeframe in the form of a “no-action letter.” This sends a clear signal:

• The regulatory authorities have accepted that “core assets on the blockchain” is no longer just a concept;
• But still hope to grasp the rhythm and risk through pilot programs and boundary controls.

This is not a full opening, but a kind of pilot operation within the system.

From “Innovation” to “Infrastructure”

DTCC's actions will not immediately reshape the market structure nor directly change asset pricing.

But it accomplished something more important at the institutional level: On-chain records are beginning to be incorporated into the formal operational system of core financial assets in the United States.

Once clearing, settlement, custodianship, and recording begin to accept Blockchain as a tool, the discussion of RWA is no longer limited to “innovative products” but has entered the layer of financial infrastructure.

The evolution direction of the financial system

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce stated in a statement that this approval “marks an important step towards the market's migration to on-chain.”

The weight of this sentence lies precisely in its restraint.

The real change is not in price fluctuations, but in the location where the ledger recognized by law and regulation is migrating.

When core functions such as settlement and registration are allowed to exist in the form of Blockchain, the direction of evolution for the financial system has clearly drawn a boundary line.

It will not change the market overnight, but it will continuously affect how assets are defined, recorded, and transferred for a long time in the future.