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The Depository Turst and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) is to move into the development phase of a protytpe settlement platform ("Project Ion") based on distributed ledger technology (DLT) that could act as the precursor to a US move to a same day settlement cycle. With six months of testing of the proof of concept now complete, DTCC says it has the quantitative data and qualitative feedback to build out a production-ready workflow and a roadmap for future full industry integration and adoption. The first phase, anticipated to be launched in Q1 2022, will support bilateral deliver order transactions that will be initiated by pilot participants through client nodes hosted by DTCC. Once launched, the transactions will be processed through the Project Ion platform and then passed to DTC's existing systems for settlement processing.

A digital dollar could streamline settlements to make post-trade financial markets more efficient, according to a report published by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. A CBDC could help speed up settlement, in part by automating reports the DTCC must send to the Federal Reserve. It cited evidence that distributed-ledger technology (DLT) could save billions of dollars per year by simplifying how trades are confirmed and reconciled.

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) announced that its Project Ion platform, which is being developed as an alternative settlement platform leveraging distributed ledger technology (DLT), has gone live in a parallel production environment. The Project Ion platform is now parallel processing an average of over 100,000 bilateral equity transactions per day, and almost 160,000 transactions on peak days, with DTCC subsidiary, The Depository Trust Company's (DTC's), classic settlement systems remaining the authoritative record.

DTCC: If a Security Token Platform performs a substantially equivalent function as an existing market infrastructure, the same legal and other requirements applicable to that function should be the same.

A poll taken by the audience of about 300 DTCC customers and others showed that while 74% of the audience's employers were participating in blockchain projects expected to be rolled out to customers, only 23% were planning to implement a business solution involving cryptocurrency. The three largest obstacles to the audience deciding to invest in cryptocurrency were regulatory uncertainty (29%), valuation approach (29%) and fraud (21%).

DTCC has issued a white paper "Governing DLT Networks, Distributed Ledger Technology Governance for Private Permissioned Networks."

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) has pushed back the release of its blockchain-based post-trade system for derivatives by several months, in part because of complications created by Brexit.

A DTCC white paper said participants in the financial sector should work to establish a set of "agreed-upon standards" that could address some of the security concerns surrounding the tech."

The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) is developing a prototype to test the ability of US clearing and settlement infrastructure to support a Fed-issued CBDC using a distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform. Project Lithium will measure the benefits of a CBDC and inform the future design of the Depository's clearing and settlement offerings. It will also explore how a CBDC could enable atomic settlement, a conditional settlement that occurs if delivery and payment are both received at the same time.

Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas and DTCC joined Fnality's £77.7 million Series B funding round. Formerly called Utility Settlement Coin, Fnality plans to offer a wholesale payment and settlement platform using stablecoins backed by deposits at central banks. So far it's operational only in the U.K., where banks can transfer money from their Bank of England accounts to the Fnality UK central bank account where it's tokenized. Because the money is tokenized it enables instant atomic securities transaction settlement. One of the intended use cases is cross currency payments, but that will need the cooperation of other central banks, which has been slow in coming. https://www.fnality.org/news-views/fnality-international-raises-77.7m-in-series-b-funding-round

The ticker for BlackRock's spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) IBTC has reappeared on the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation's (DTCC) website after disappearing for a few hours.

In August the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) DLT-based Project Ion platform for stock settlement went into production. The R3 Corda-based platform runs in parallel with the DTC's classic settlement system, which remains the definitive record. At this stage, Project Ion is designed to only deal with bilateral equity transactions but is already processing an average of 100,000 transactions per day.

Blackrock's iShares Bitcoin Trust has been listed on the DTCC (Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation which clears NASDAQ trades) under the $IBTC ticker. This doesn't mean regulatory approval but the market is taking it is a sign that Blackrock is confident that its exchange-traded fund (ETF) will be approved. Also, in the latest amendment to the iShares Bitcoin Trust prospectus, BlackRock revealed that it planned to start seeding. Seeding an ETF is when "initial funding" is provided to purchase a few creation units, which in this case would mean Bitcoin in exchange for ETF shares which can be traded in the open market on day one.

Wedbush Securities will begin using blockchain technology to settle certain stock trades, using Paxos on a pilot basis. Paxos recently tested same-day settlement of trades on the blockchain. Paxos currently operates its blockchain-based settlement system under a "no-action" promise from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Meanwhile, Paxos is applying to become a clearing agency with the SEC, which would make the cryptocurrency custodian one of just two clearing agencies in the U.S., joining the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC).

The Depository Trust and Clearing Coporation has unveiled two new projects, codenamed 'Ion' and 'Whitney', to experiment with asset digitalisation, distributed ledger technology and asset tokenisation for post-trade settlement in the public and private markets.

In Greenwich Associates' "Steampunk Settlement: Deploying Futuristic Technology to Achieve an Anachronistic Result" they discuss the medieval results that come from the expensive deployment of futuristic technology, and challenge the idea that DLT could replace today's clearance and settlement infrastructure.

"While T+1 settlement will come into force in the U.S. on May 28, 2024, its effects are being felt around the world. Recent research conducted by ValueExchange at the start of 2023 , showed that many challenges remain with regards to implementation, regardless of location. The survey showed that T+1's strongest impact is not in North America, but instead, with global custodians in Europe and the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. These regions have been facing the steepest challenges, and in APAC, specifically, funds and derivatives are encountering the greatest obstacle."

"While State Street's digital arm is working on the ability to custody cryptoassets by the end of the year, tokenization remains a top focus for the business going forward as institutions continue to show interest in the segment. Using distributed ledger technology to tokenize funds and private assets, for example, to improve efficiency and accessibility is something the company is working on for 2023, according to Nicole Olson, a vice president of digital product development and innovation at the bank."