The Canton token (CC) jumped about 27% following an announcement that the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) will mint a portion of U.S. Treasury securities on the Canton Network. The move, backed by an SEC no-action letter and an MVP target for H1 2026, immediately re-priced the token on prospects of institutional adoption and faster, more efficient settlement. The announcement signaled concrete progress toward bringing high-value, real-world assets onchain under institutional controls.
DTCC said it will mint selected U.S. Treasury securities that are currently custody-held by its Depository Trust Company (DTC) subsidiary onto the Canton Network, a privacy-enabled blockchain developed by Digital Asset. The initial phase is Treasury-focused, with a strategic plan to expand tokenization to other DTC-eligible assets such as equities and ETFs.
DTCC’s roadmap sets a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) deployment for the first half of 2026, framing the pilot as the operational next step for bringing high-value, real-world assets onchain under institutional controls, and CEO Frank La Salla positioned the collaboration as a pathway to production-grade tokenization use cases for regulated markets.
The initiative received a three-year runway from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission via a no-action letter, allowing DTCC to pilot blockchain-based tokenization without immediate enforcement risk. The regulatory latitude is intended to reduce legal uncertainty for institutional participants and support measured adoption.
DTCC selected the Canton Network for its privacy features, permissioned architecture, and interoperability via permissioned subnets—described as a “network of networks” that preserves confidential data while permitting secure interoperability. The Canton Network is presented as scalable for institutional volumes and already facilitates tokenized instruments tied to U.S. Treasury repo and money market funds, reportedly managing over $6 trillion in tokenized assets.
DTCC’s tokenization blueprint and timeline
Market participants reacted quickly: the Canton token rallied roughly 25–27% after the announcement, reflecting perceived institutional validation and the value of clearer regulatory footing. This immediate repricing underscored how policy clarity and operational roadmaps can influence token valuations linked to real-world asset infrastructure.
Traders and managers should note the principal operational implications flagged by the plan—faster settlement windows, potential for near 24/7 trading, and programmable asset features—all of which can alter liquidity profiles and hedging requirements in fixed-income and related markets. The DTCC-backed pilot may re-orient market structure by reducing settlement frictions that currently constrain intraday liquidity.
These shifts could change derivatives hedging dynamics and the timing of cash market rotations as execution, collateral, and settlement processes adapt to tokenized instruments. Implications for risk management include adapting to new intraday liquidity patterns and reassessing execution and custody counterparties as tokenized Treasuries migrate into institutional workflows.
The announcement may also affect demand dynamics for infrastructure tokens that underpin RWA rails, as institutional endorsement tends to concentrate flows in a small number of compliant platforms, potentially reinforcing network effects around permissioned, regulated systems.
DTCC’s decision to pilot tokenized U.S. Treasuries on Canton, supported by an SEC no-action letter and an MVP target in H1 2026, represents a practical step toward integrating regulated markets with blockchain infrastructure.
