Morgan Stanley Begins Tokenizing U.S. Equities and Treasuries

The DTCC launched this tokenization service on October 28, drawing participation from 20 major financial institutions, including JPMorgan, Citi, and Bank of America. This infrastructure allows firms to create digital representations of securities held in custody while maintaining standard ownership rights and economic entitlements. For Morgan Stanley, the move serves as a testing ground for its broader digital asset strategy.

Amy Oldenburg, the bank’s head of digital assets strategy, noted that this hands-on integration will inform the firm’s future capabilities as the market matures. Beyond current tokenization efforts, Morgan Stanley is preparing to launch a dedicated trading system for tokenized equities in the first quarter of 2027. This timeline follows an internal pivot to ensure the necessary infrastructure and product depth are in place. The bank is also exploring wider applications through its Digital Asset Lab, investigating everything from stablecoins to decentralized finance, with projections suggesting the market for tokenized real-world assets could reach $10 trillion by 2030.