Major Equity Settlement Firm DTCC Launches New Blockchain And Tokenization Experiments

The major equity clearing and settlement firm, Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), has been experimenting with blockchain technology for over three years, has announced two new projects.

The two projects will be called ‘Ion’ and ‘Whitney’ respectively. Both aim at improving post-trade settlements in the private and public sectors through asset digitization and tokenization, respectively.

Ion will function as a proof-of-concept project: aiming to clarify the use of Distributed Ledger Technology and how it can be leveraged for the digitization of assets.

DTCC's chief of global operations clearing agency services and client services Murray Pozmanter stated:

“Project Ion is about working with the industry to further the value proposition on accelerated settlement leveraging new capabilities such as DLT and tokenized securities, and to learn how DTCC can best deploy these technologies to deliver additional value to clients and the industry.”

Whitney, meanwhile, specifically targets private markets. Particularly those that are in need of automation but don’t have the infrastructure to do so effectively.

DTCC's business innovation and managing director – Jennifer Peve – explained how project Whitney could greatly help private markets:

“Project Whitney presents an exciting opportunity to leverage emerging technologies and develop completely new solutions from the ground up.”

DTCC focus on blockchain has been built around ensuring stable transaction settlements via global post-trading standards. The firm is engaged with the industry, actively taking inputs and suggestions to assess the market demand. DTCC currently processes $1.7 quadrillion worth of securities transactions every year.

DTCC is continually looking for new use cases for blockchain technology within the capital market. To do so successfully, it has partnered with blockchain infrastructure providers like IBM and R3 in the past to create new decentralized solutions.

Back in 2017, it launched a proof-of-concept based credit derivative settlement project.