Tokenization is a service DTCC Tokenization Services provides. What happens next is yours to run: how a token actually moves through treasury, trading (repo), risk, custody and your own books like any other position. Here is the path from an incoming margin call to the record back in your core, and what has to be in place for it to run on an ordinary Tuesday.
July
Initial production trades
October
DTCC TOKENIZATION SERVICES LAUNCH
50+
Firms shaped the design
17+
STEPS IN ONE COLLATERAL REPO LIFECYCLE
Tokenization has been in the pilot phase for years. That is changing. In July, DTCC facilitated initial limited production trades of securities tokenized through DTCC's Tokenization Services, and the service launches this October. It was designed with feedback from more than 50 firms: custodians, asset managers, brokers, trading venues, application providers, back-office providers, digital asset infrastructure companies and operationalization services like Knova.
Knova sits on the DTCC industry working group that shaped that service. To be direct about what that does and does not mean: Knova is not a tokenization service and does not issue, custody or settle tokens. DTCC provides the tokenization rails and the support around them. We support the workings around those rails, the layer that makes a token behave like any other position inside your own systems.
The question was never whether securities can be tokenized. It is whether they can operate inside the infrastructure institutions already run.
So the asset is tokenized. Now what? It still has to be allocated, approved, moved, funded, booked and reconciled inside a bank whose operating model spans treasury, risk, compliance, books and records, custody, reporting and client applications. DTCC provides the tokenization and data layers. The end-to-end integration and operational layer — connecting your wallets, custodians and cash-leg providers to your books — is left to each member to build. That is exactly what Knova solves for. From our work with banks and prime brokers preparing for October, six considerations come up again and again.
Readiness check
Six considerations
Click through each one and answer honestly. We'll tally your readiness at the end.
01 / 06
One version of the asset across every system
A tokenized Treasury and its book-entry twin are the same economic asset. Your risk engine, treasury system, collateral platform and general ledger need to agree on that. Each one describes assets differently, and a token adds new identifiers, wallet addresses and chain data to the mix.
Ask yourself
Can every desk see a single position per asset, across on-chain and off-chain books, in real time?
How Knova handles it +
Standardized asset data. Different assets bring different data models and metadata; Knova standardizes them into one digital twin across on-chain and off-chain books, so any asset — including each on/off-chain pairing — operates through the same control plane.
What Knova is, and is not
Not a tokenization service. The layer that makes tokenized markets work.
Knova picks up before and after tokenization. It sits between DTCC's rails and the systems you already run, and supports the workings: the data, approvals, movement and reconciliation a token needs to be treated as an ordinary position. It runs inside your environment, under your ownership, and turns each consideration into configuration rather than a build project. It is not another digital asset strategy to weigh — it is the operating layer for the strategy you already have.
01
Standardized asset data
Different assets bring different data models and metadata; Knova standardizes them into one digital twin across on-chain and off-chain books, so any asset — including each on/off-chain pairing — operates through the same control plane.
02
Workflows with your controls built in
Multi-step workflows enforce your segregation of duties, approvals, limits and netting, configured to your policy.
03
Connection to existing systems
One integration layer connects through your gateway or hub to core banking, custody, treasury and accounting over ISO 20022, MQ, REST or file. No rip-and-replace.
04
Dual-record reconciliation
On-chain and off-chain records reconcile continuously, with full audit lineage from day one.
05
Identity and compliance
Entities, desks and sub-accounts link to your identity and access controls, with KYC and AML checks before anything reaches the chain.
06
Chain and custody agnostic
Works across Canton, Besu and other networks, with the custodians and wallets you choose. Eliminating vendor lock-in gives risk teams the assurance they can move quickly to new vendors, services and networks. No DAML or smart contract team to hire.
Scenario
A prime broker receives a margin call
Part of the eligible collateral is tokenized Treasuries in a wallet. Part is still book-entry. Here is how Knova handles it, from the incoming message to the record back in your core. Step through it.
DTCC provides
Open tokenization layer
Standards, compliance and templates on Canton, Besu and other DLTs.
DTCC provides
Data layer
LedgerScan.
Not provided
Integration & operational layer
The workings: order, approval, movement and reconciliation. This is the only layer Knova occupies, running in your environment.
01
Receive
The margin call, not the repo or the token move: Knova reads the incoming margin call message from your systems over API, MQ or webhook and identifies the required action.
Zoom in · the full 17-step lifecycle
Showing stage 01 · Receive
What receive really involves
The five stages above are steps in one collateral repo lifecycle. Zoom in to see all 17: steps 01–05 run once at setup, 06–12 on every trade, and 13–17 after settlement. The highlighted steps are what the selected stage covers; steps marked Venue are handled by your execution venue.
Related to receive Other stagesVenue Execution-venue specific4 of 17 steps
Setup
01
Address management per asset type and wallet
Assess
02
Whitelisting and step-transfer configuration
Reconcile
03
Mint and burn window definitions
Configured around your operating hours and cut-offs
Calculate
04
Threshold and prefunding rules
Capital efficiency
Calculate
05
Asset instance tracking
CUSIP mapping, client-side
Assess
Trade & settlement
06
Trade agreementVenue
Execution venue
Execute
07
On-chain allocation requestVenue
Minimal data
Calculate
08
Chain event to Knova webhookVenue
Receive
09
Execution venue data enrichment and reconciliationVenue
Receive
10
Eligibility check
Broker rules, systems of record
Assess
11
Execution and wallet signing
Execute
12
Ledger update
Dual-write
Reconcile
Post-trade
13
Continuous margin monitoring
Receive
14
Margin call or substitution trigger
The margin call in the scenario picks up here
Receive
15
On-chain vs book-entry settlement routing
Rules for FICC and NSCC close windows
Execute
16
Unwind and capital recovery
Reconcile
17
Continuous cross-system reconciliation and audit lineage
Reconcile
Steps are venue specific, for example Tradeweb, Temple and Talos. Steps 01–05 run once, before the first trade; the call itself picks up at step 14.
From the enablement checklist · Five operational jobs
Build the workings yourself—or configure them.
!
Reconciliation
Arrange daily reconciliation of securities, cash tokens and bank balances—even at weekends
!
Signing & controls
Adapt the allowlist, limit and approval checks you already run for web2 trades to tokenized assets
!
Integration
Map venue and chain events into your books, and check the trade terms
!
Cash funding
Operate prefunding and liquidity rules, including when the Federal Reserve is closed
!
Exceptions
Build response steps for failed settlement, paused tokens and clawbacks
Your controls. Your systems. Less to build.
Knova orchestrates your operational workflows. DTCC provides the tokenization and data layers; your wallet, venue and cash providers remain responsible for signing and settlement. Read the source checklist →
Go deeper · Knova’s DTS enablement checklist
Getting approved is the start. Making it work is the project.
Knova’s checklist separates DTCC Tokenization Services onboarding from the work inside your firm: preparing collateral and cash, opening a repo, managing it around the clock and closing it back into your books.
8 steps
DTCC onboarding
25 tasks to enable access, users, wallets, testing and go-live.
40+ more
Inside your firm
Additional operational steps to run a repo in production, according to Knova’s checklist.
Configuration
Where Knova fits
Workflows, policies and reconciliation alongside your core systems, in your dedicated environment.
Includes cash funding, failed-settlement response, pause and clawback handling, maturity and client custody records—beyond the 17-step illustration above.
Interactive checklist · Prepared by Knova, October 2026 · A repo against tokenized Treasuries, settled in on-chain cash
DTCC has built the rails. The firms that benefit first will treat a token like any other asset on an ordinary Tuesday.
As a member of the DTCC Digital Assets Solutions Industry Working Group (IWG), Knova is contributing that operational perspective to the industry conversation, and we are glad to compare notes with any team preparing now.
The token is the easy part.
DTCC Tokenization Services traded in July and launches in October. The token itself is provided. What happens next is yours: making a tokenized Treasury move through treasury, risk, custody and your own books like any other position.
Knova is not a tokenization service. We support the workings after tokenization: the data, approvals, movement and reconciliation a token needs to behave like an ordinary position. Here is one margin call end to end, expanded into the 17-step collateral lifecycle behind it. [blog link]
