🎙️ Ep. 62. DTCC Readies $100T of Stocks to Go Onchain

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This week, our host Simon Taylor is joined by an all-star panel to discuss a consequential week for institutional tokenization, with DTCC, Visa, JP Morgan, and the FDIC all making notable moves:y:

• Nadine Chakar, Global Head of DTCC Digital Assets, who brings the headline story following SEC approval for DTCC to tokenize the top 1,000 US stocks

• Marieke Flament, 2x CEO, Angel Investor, Advisor, former CEO of the NEAR Foundation and Metal neobank, and former CMO of Circle

• Chuk Okpalugo, Founder of Stablecoin Blueprint, host of the Money Code podcast, and formerly of Paxos

The discussion focuses on the DTCC's landmark tokenization authorization, Visa's stablecoin settlement expansion, JPMorgan's tokenized money market fund launch, and the FDIC's proposed stablecoin framework.

 🎙️Listen to the full episode here on your favorite podcast app or 📷 watch on YouTube.

Key Takeaways

DTCC's Tokenization Authorization Represents a Structural Shift in US Capital Markets

The DTCC - custodian of $100 trillion in assets and processor of $3.7 quadrillion in securities transactions annually - has received SEC authorization to tokenize the top 1,000 US equities. This is not a synthetic wrapper or SPV structure; these are digital twins of actual securities with full legal rights and obligations attached.

As Nadine Chakar explained, "You needed somebody right now to be able to do tokenization in a way that continued to protect investor protections, really extend it with all the legal rights and obligations that go with it. What a depository does, which is really important, is we are also at a good control location."

The DTCC has partnered with Canton Network as its first blockchain, with plans to add additional chains through an orchestration layer. Chakar emphasized the importance of interoperability: "If you tell me, mint today on Canton Network, but tomorrow, I need you to move it to Stellar, or move it to Ethereum, we'll be able to do that while maintaining the appropriate records."

Key institutional implications:

• Participants can tokenize from traditional to digital holdings, and reverse that process

• The model is opt-in, allowing market participants to choose their transition timeline

• Chakar expects 2026 to be a transition year, potentially extending into 2027, as industry readiness develops

Visa's Domestic Stablecoin Settlement Signals Infrastructure Maturation

Visa announced stablecoin settlement for US banks using USDC on Solana, with Cross River and Lead Bank as early adopters. The company's stablecoin settlement volumes have grown to $3.5 billion annualized - up from $1 billion the previous quarter.

Chuk Okpalugo highlighted why this matters: "My favorite part about this is that it's a domestic settlement use case. This is upgrading a core part of the settlement pipeline and plumbing for this network."

Marieke Flament connected this to broader liquidity benefits: "There is a huge amount of liquidity that's being trapped because it can't actually be released fast enough for all the smaller merchants - that if they had it, their working capital would actually be better."

Stablecoin Issuance Is Now Commoditized - Distribution Is the Differentiator

Both SoFi and Coinbase launched stablecoin-as-a-service offerings, signaling that issuance infrastructure has matured. SoFi becomes the first OCC-regulated national bank to issue a stablecoin, with reserves held at its Fed master account.

As Okpalugo noted, "You can't have the run argument with the Fed master account" - positioning SoFi's offering as uniquely stable for bank and bank-like institutions.

Coinbase, meanwhile, can offer onchain reserve management and potential interoperability with USDC, creating competitive positioning in what Okpalugo called a "many horse race."

Flament raised the critical question facing the industry: "It's not just about having the possibility to launch a stablecoin - then you need a powerful distribution network. You need to have a reason to really do that better than USDC or USDT."

Okpalugo offered a clarifying framework: "I think there'll be 1,000 or more stablecoins, but many of them will stand within their walled gardens... 95-99% going to be utilized on the platform which issued them."

Every Financial Institution Will Need a Tokenization Strategy

JPMorgan is launching a tokenized money market fund on Ethereum, seeding it with $100 million. The fund, called MONY (My Onchain Net Yield), will be available to qualified institutions with a $1 million minimum - lower than BlackRock's BUIDL at $5 million.

Okpalugo articulated the emerging institutional imperative: "Each firm, each financial institution, will have its tokenized deposit, its stablecoin if they so choose, and the tokenized fund, and they'll work very well together."

Flament observed competition heating up across asset managers: "BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, Fidelity - they're all trying to have some sort of product. We're going to start seeing competition in terms of ticket size, competition in terms of fees, and therefore these products are going to become more and more appealing."

Regulatory Clarity Is Accelerating - FDIC Moves on Stablecoin Framework

The FDIC proposed an application framework for FDIC-covered banks to issue payment stablecoins through subsidiaries. With over 4,000 banks under FDIC oversight, this represents substantial institutional runway.

Flament noted the complexity in the US regulatory structure compared to Europe: "The one thing I was pondering upon is the complexity of the US system, because you'll need that also with the OCC... We don't have that in Europe. MiCA might be slightly, dare I say, simpler in a way."

Chakar offered the industry's guiding principles: "There's only one card in the rule here, maybe two. One is don't fragment liquidity. And two, make sure that ownership is accounted for and well governed."

Looking Ahead: The panel emphasized that while tokenization infrastructure is maturing rapidly, industry readiness remains the key variable. The conversion from account-based systems to wallet-based infrastructure is, as Taylor noted, "non-trivial" - suggesting 2026 will be a year of integration and adaptation as institutions position themselves for tokenized capital markets.

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