Morgan Stanley Joins Tokenization Push as Banks Double Down on Blockchains

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) on Wednesday became one of the first banks to tokenize U.S. equities and Treasuries through DTCC’s new tokenization service, extending Wall Street’s push into blockchain infrastructure.

What Morgan Stanley Is Actually Doing

Morgan Stanley announced on X that it’s among the first banks to tokenize real-world assets following the launch of the DTCC Tokenization Service, converting US equities and Treasurys into tokenized form. 

The service, which launched Oct. 28, creates tokenized representations of DTC-custodied securities designed to support greater liquidity, collateral mobility and capital efficiency.

Amy Oldenburg, Morgan Stanley’s head of digital assets strategy, said hands-on integration of tokenized securities with established market infrastructure will inform how the firm builds its digital asset capabilities going forward. 

As The Block reported Tuesday, Morgan Stanley now expects to support tokenized equities on its alternative trading system in the first quarter of 2027, a delay from its previous second-half 2026 target.

Why DTCC’s New Service Matters for Wall Street

DTCC said the tokenization service launched with 20 participating institutions, including JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), Citigroup (NYSE:C), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Barclays, BNP Paribas, Fidelity Investments, State Street (NYSE:STT) and UBS (NYSE:UBS), with additional users set to come on board on a rolling basis.

DTC, DTCC’s depository subsidiary, holds more than $114 trillion in assets under custody, giving the new service a massive base of securities eligible for tokenization.

Moreover, DTCC President and CEO Frank La Salla said the launch represents the culmination of years of work bringing tokenized securities into a regulated framework supported by trusted market infrastructure. 

The service was built with input from more than 150 firms and currently integrates with the Canton Network and DTCC’s private Besu network, with plans to add more blockchain networks in 2027.

Why Crypto Stocks are Riding the Same Momentum

As Benzinga reported Tuesday, Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT) jumped 16% and Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) rose 7% after the CFTC cleared perpetual futures on individual stocks, a tailwind for the broader tokenization trade.

The New York Stock Exchange and parent Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) are also building tokenized trading platforms, while Broadridge, Computershare, Equiniti and Superstate have signed on as transfer agents.

The SEC cleared the path in December 2025, granting DTC a No-Action Letter to tokenize Russell 1000 stocks, major index ETFs and Treasurys.

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