Market infrastructure giants warn interoperability is key to scaling tokenised securities

The world’s largest market infrastructure operators have warned that tokenised securities will find it hard to reach scale unless financial markets agree how distributed ledgers will connect to existing systems.

In a joint white paper produced by the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation, Euroclear and Clearstream in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group, the authors contend that “interoperability is a prerequisite for digital asset security (DAS) adoption at scale.” The paper argues that without such alignment, tokens risk becoming stranded on discrete networks, driving up operational expense and splintering liquidity as volumes rise.

The study does not promote a single ledger as the answer. Instead it frames the challenge as structural: dozens of public and permissioned blockchains now host experimental and live products, each with distinct standards, smart-contract approaches and settlement mechanics. That heterogeneity, the authors say, complicates integration and raises both operational and regulatory exposures. They posit a future shaped less by one dominant chain and more by a “network-of-networks, with standards, gateways, and regulated service providers” that can bridge digital and traditional rails. In that model, assets must move between platforms while preserving “the asset’s integrity, ownership rights and lifecycle, with full legal and regulatory compliance.” The paper summarises the objective tersely: “same asset, same rights, same outcome.”

The report builds on prior work from the trio, including the 2024 blueprint that introduced the Digital Asset Securities Control Principles. According to Clearstream and DTCC communications, the new framework identifies five foundational layers for trusted operability: assets and liabilities; ownership recognition; asset lifecycle and movement protocols; ledgers; and legal and regulatory compliance. The authors present these components as the scaffolding needed to reduce fragmentation and accelerate adoption across markets.

Industry context underlines the stakes. While tokenised securities remain a fraction of global equities and foreign-exchange volumes, onchain activity is gaining traction in repo markets and through pilot projects across the United States and Europe. The paper notes that major platforms already process more than $300 billion a day in repo activity, signalling that scaled infrastructure is emerging even as many settlement and custodial workflows continue to depend on legacy rails. Tokenised bonds may trade onchain, for example, while cash still moves through central bank real-time gross settlement systems or bank payment networks and central securities depositories maintain books of record. The white paper assumes that this coexistence will persist for years.

Beyond technical bridging, the authors stress that interoperability must encompass legal and operational layers as well. Alignment is needed on ownership recognition, lifecycle events, ledger finality and enforceability across jurisdictions; absent that, cross-chain or cross-border transactions could require extra reconciliations that erode the efficiency tokenisation promises. The paper calls for coordinated industry effort, proposing working groups focused on governance, standards and resilience and urging regulators and market participants to collaborate to shape durable market practices. “Collective action today will shape resilient markets tomorrow,” the authors write.

Market participants have long asserted potential benefits from tokenisation: proponents at major banks and asset managers argue distributed-ledger rails could enable 24/7 trading, faster settlement and more efficient collateral use, trimming back-office costs and unlocking capital now tied up in multi-day settlement cycles. The white paper does not dispute those potential gains but warns realising them depends less on launching yet more chains and more on aligning the rules that govern existing and emerging platforms.

The paper’s approach maintains editorial distance from vendor claims by focusing on systemic constraints rather than singling out technologies. It positions standard-setting, legal clarity and integration of regulated service providers as prerequisites for the liquidity and cost advantages that many in finance anticipate. The authors recommend industry coordination to develop open standards and governance frameworks that would allow tokenised instruments to migrate across networks without losing enforceable rights.

As tokenisation pilots proliferate, the paper’s message is a reminder that technical innovation alone will not deliver scaled markets. Achieving interoperable outcomes will require cross-industry consensus, regulatory engagement and sustained investment in operational integration to ensure that digital asset initiatives translate into the streamlined, liquid markets their backers envisage.