The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the parent organization of the Depository Trust Company, announced on November 12 that it plans to expand its tokenization services to the Solana blockchain in the second half of 2027. This move is expected to attract traditional financial institutions, but industry analysts point out that current regulatory restrictions could significantly diminish its actual impact on the network’s ecosystem.
DTC, a subsidiary of DTCC, launched tokenization services on October 28 on the Canton Network and its private Besu network, allowing specific securities to be converted into digital assets while maintaining existing investor protection mechanisms. On the day of the launch, a total of 20 DTC participants signed agreements to gain access to the service; it has not yet been announced whether any institutions plan to deploy on Solana.
Solana Has Become a Hotspot for Tokenized Stock Trading
Solana, known for its fast transaction speeds and low fees, has recently become a hub for tokenized stock trading. According to data from the blockchain analytics platform Birdeye, trading volume for tokenized stocks on Solana reached approximately $4.9 billion in the first half of 2026, more than a sixfold increase from the previous six-month period. As of the end of September, more than 1 million wallets had held tokenized stocks on Solana.
Meanwhile, the total value of real-world asset (RWA) tokens on Solana stood at $4.76 billion as of November 11, an increase of nearly 7% from $4.46 billion on October 12. However, overall transaction activity on the blockchain has slowed—trading volume over the past 30 days fell by 34.4% to $39.1 billion, and the number of monthly active addresses dropped by nearly 13% to 45.8 million.
Regulatory Sandbox Restricts Retail Access
A guidance letter issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in December 2025 requires that DTC participants hold tokenized securities in registered wallets, and that assets can only be transferred between registered wallets. Alex Lin, founding partner of venture capital firm Reforge, pointed out that this restriction effectively creates a “walled garden,” preventing retail users and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols from participating directly for the time being.
Lin said, “In the short term, these expectations have been overstated, because the SEC’s guidance letter restricts these tokens to registered DTC participants, meaning retail users and DeFi liquidity cannot yet access them directly. Regulators need to allow these assets to function as genuine on-chain collateral; this is more of a policy issue than a technical one.”
The Key to Institutional Adoption: Assets Must Be Actively Utilized, Not Left Idle
Even if DTCC integrates Solana, its actual impact on the network will still depend on the level of participation by financial institutions. Kha Nguyen, CEO of Birdeye, pointed out that transactions are, by their nature, one-off events; whether they involve $100 or $100 million, they generate only a single on-chain record. The key lies in the turnover rate of assets, not the value sitting idle on the chain.
Nguyen cautioned: “Banks, brokers, and issuers must make a clear commitment to issuing, trading, and settling on Solana—and follow through on it.” He emphasized that tokenized assets need to be actively utilized—“Assets must remain active, not idle: traded around the clock, used as collateral for loans, and generating returns.”
Lin from Reforge also agreed that the long-term impact depends on the use cases of the assets, rather than the blockchain on which they are issued. “No one cares where the assets are issued; what matters is where they are used,” he said. “The key lies in where secondary trading and staking activities will take place and where they will ultimately be settled.”
Further Reading
- Jupiter Launches New USDGO Lending Market; Solana Locked Value Exceeds $1 Billion
- Solana Company Reports Q3 Revenue of $3.4 Million, Up More Than Fourfold Year-Over-Year
Cover image: Fixedsun/Wikimedia Commons (CC0)