Morgan Stanley pushes tokenized stock trading to early 2027 as it waits on DTCC

Morgan Stanley tokenized equities are coming later than the bank first promised. The firm now expects to support tokenized stocks on its alternative trading system in the first quarter of 2027, according to an interview its head of digital asset strategy, Amy Oldenburg, gave The Block at the Token2049 conference. In March, she had pointed to the second half of 2026. The new target slips the plan by a few months, and the reasons say a lot about where Wall Street's push into blockchain actually stands.

What Morgan Stanley said about tokenized equities

Oldenburg told The Block that Morgan Stanley is "actively building the necessary infrastructure" and expects to be ready by the first quarter. Her explanation for the delay was simple. The bank's trading venue can only list tokenized shares once those shares exist as real products. "We need product in order to be able to support them within the ATS," she said, adding that client demand is limited for the same reason: there is not much to buy yet.

An alternative trading system, or ATS, is a private venue that matches buy and sell orders away from public exchanges like Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange. Morgan Stanley already uses its own system to give clients access to direct equities, derivatives and swaps. The bank describes tokenization as an extension of that existing setup rather than a separate crypto business.

Back in March, Oldenburg laid out the original version of the plan at the Digital Asset Summit in New York. As reported by Techloy at the time, the bank wanted selected US stocks and ETFs to be issued and settled in tokenized form alongside their traditional versions. Clients would be able to pick blockchain settlement while keeping the same economic exposure and shareholder rights. That goal has not changed. The calendar has.

Why the timeline moved

The delay is less about Morgan Stanley and more about the plumbing underneath it. Three outside factors came up in the interview.

DTCC's tokenization service

The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation sits at the center of US securities settlement. According to Cointelegraph, DTCC custodies about $114 trillion in assets and planned a pilot of tokenized securities trading in July, followed by a full service launch targeted for October. The Block's report points to that launch at the end of October as a milestone that could finally get tokenized stocks moving in volume.

DTCC's service is meant to create tokens that carry the same entitlements and investor protections as the original shares. Cointelegraph reported that the full service is expected to cover ETFs that track major indexes, Russell 1000 stocks and US Treasury bills, bonds and notes. More than 50 firms joined the working group behind it, including BlackRock, Circle, Anchorage Digital, BitGo and Fireblocks. The SEC gave DTCC permission in December 2025 to offer tokenization services on approved blockchains for three years.

For a bank like Morgan Stanley, that matters a great deal. If the tokens that represent Apple or S&P 500 ETF shares come from the same system that already settles those shares, a big bank can list them with far less legal risk.

The GENIUS Act and bank regulators

Oldenburg also mentioned the GENIUS Act taking effect in January as something the firm is watching. That law sets federal rules for payment stablecoins, which are often used to settle onchain trades. We covered how agencies are racing to finish those rules in our piece on the GENIUS Act stablecoin rules.

She said Federal Reserve permissibility is a factor too. She added that the failure of the CLARITY Act to pass is acceptable for now, but that some of its less defined parts still need clarity before traditional firms can move with confidence. In her words, it is "pretty hard" for institutional players to fully engage right now.

What else Morgan Stanley is building

The tokenized stock plan is one piece of a bigger effort. According to The Block, the bank is working on its own wallet infrastructure. It will not be a self custody wallet, and it is designed so that clients never have to think about the blockchain underneath. If you want a refresher on the difference, our guide to how crypto wallets work explains custodial and self custody options.

Morgan Stanley also set up a Digital Asset Lab to test blockchain and crypto native tools in a safe environment before anything reaches real clients. Earlier this year it received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to form a digital trust that can custody or stake digital assets for clients.

Oldenburg listed the areas she sees as the nearest opportunities: private company shares, structured notes, custom products and access to private funds. She also floated using tokenized assets as collateral, an idea she summed up as "the securitization of everything." Asked about perpetual futures and prediction markets, she said the bank is not committing to them but needs to be able to support them if clients ask.

Who is affected

Most Morgan Stanley wealth clients will not notice anything soon. Tokenized shares, if they arrive on schedule, would sit next to regular shares on the bank's own venue. The main change would be how trades settle behind the scenes.

The delay matters more to the crypto industry. Big banks moving into tokenized assets is one of the strongest arguments crypto companies make for the long term value of blockchains. Morgan Stanley is not alone. Wells Fargo has held talks with Kraken's parent company over trading liquidity, as we reported in our coverage of the Wells Fargo and Kraken talks, and Standard Chartered just launched custody for Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin, according to The Block.

It also matters for investors weighing crypto related stocks and funds. A slower bank rollout does not kill the trend, but it is a reminder that schedules set at conferences often slip once lawyers and settlement systems get involved.

How big this market could get

Oldenburg was bullish on the long run. Asked about forecasts that tokenized real world assets could reach $3 trillion to $10 trillion by 2030, she told The Block, "We'll definitely be within that range without question." She also said there is "a lot of FOMO in the institutional space."

The current numbers are much smaller. Cointelegraph, citing data from RWA.xyz, reported in May that tokenized stocks had grown to about $1.21 billion, up from $375.4 million a year earlier. That is fast growth from a tiny base, and it is a long way from trillions.

What to watch next

The most important near term signal is whether DTCC's full tokenization service goes live at the end of October as planned. If it does, banks get a trusted source of tokenized shares to list. The next is the January start of the GENIUS Act regime and any guidance from the Fed on what banks may hold or trade. Finally, watch for Morgan Stanley's wallet launch, which the bank had earlier pointed to for the second half of 2026.

If you are new to the technology behind all this, start with our plain English explainer on what a blockchain is. For more stories like this one, visit our crypto news page.

Frequently asked questions

When will Morgan Stanley support tokenized stocks?

The bank now expects to support tokenized equities on its alternative trading system in the first quarter of 2027, according to Amy Oldenburg's interview with The Block. The earlier target was the second half of 2026.

What is a tokenized stock?

It is a digital token on a blockchain that represents a share of a company or fund. In the model DTCC and Morgan Stanley describe, the token carries the same ownership rights as the regular share, but it can settle onchain.

Why did Morgan Stanley delay its plan?

Oldenburg said the bank needs real tokenized products before it can list them, and she pointed to DTCC's launch, the GENIUS Act and open regulatory questions as factors.

Can regular investors buy tokenized stocks today?

Some crypto platforms offer tokenized stock products, but availability depends on where you live and the provider. Morgan Stanley's own offering is not live yet.