Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the central equity clearing and settlement services provider, has launched two projects to offer a new framework for asset digitalization and tokenization. Named ‘Ion’ and ‘Whitney,’ the new initiatives intend to enhance post-trade settlement in the public and private markets.

For traditional market makers who depend on its core clearing and settlement processes, DTCC’s Ion is a proof-of-concept project that could assist bring a more robust knowledge of distributed ledger technology (DLT) and the application of asset digitalization.

DTCC expects global post-trading standards for crypto assets will ensure stable transaction settlement. The company, which processes $1.7 quadrillion worth of securities transactions yearly, stated it’s recently engaging with the industry to assess market demand.

“Project Ion is about working with the industry to further the value proposition on accelerated settlement leveraging new capabilities such as DLT and tokenized securities, and to learn how DTCC can best deploy these technologies to deliver additional value to clients and the industry,” said Murray Pozmanter, head of clearing agency services and global operations and client services at DTCC in a statement.

As for its Project Whitney, DTCC presumes it to provide to private markets that have been available for increased automation and lack much of the infrastructure that has helped the public markets for decades.

DTCC finds blockchain scales

“Project Whitney presents an exciting opportunity to leverage emerging technologies and develop completely new solutions from the ground up,” said Jennifer Peve, managing director, business innovation at DTCC in a statement.

The member-owned market utility has been experimenting with blockchain for three years, concentrated on building more efficient capital markets. In 2017, it revealed a project in association with Axoni, IBM, and R3 to introduce the proof of concept for settling credit derivatives.

DTCC works trade repositories across the world. In the US, it helps trade reporting to the CFTC by its US swap data repository (SDR). DTCC also runs a trade repository approved by the Japan Financial Services Agency (JFSA). DTCC’s centralized platform offers its clients with the capability to report trades only once and seamlessly satisfy regulatory requirements to various jurisdictions.