DTCC Taps Chainlink to Expand Blockchain-Based Collateral Platform

DTCC is expanding development of a blockchain-based collateral management platform using Chainlink infrastructure, aiming to enable 24/7 real-time collateral transfers through tokenized assets and smart contracts.

CoinDesk reported on May 12 that DTCC plans to integrate Chainlink’s Runtime Environment, or CRE, and data-standard technology into its Collateral AppChain platform.

The platform is designed to automate asset pricing, valuation, margin management, collateral optimization and settlement functions.

Collateral AppChain uses Besu, an Ethereum-based enterprise blockchain architecture. DTCC plans to use the platform to tokenize collateral assets and enable real-time collateral mobility.

Existing collateral systems in traditional finance have long been criticized as fragmented across institutions and countries, contributing to processing delays and inefficiencies.

DTCC said it aims to use smart contract-based automation and collateral tokenization to create an effectively real-time collateral transfer system linking traditional financial markets with blockchain networks.

Nadine Chakar, global head of DTCC Digital Assets, said the company wants to modernize collateral movement using tokenization and distributed ledger technology. The goal is to enable 24/7 real-time collateral management across global markets and blockchain networks.

Chainlink will act as the platform’s data and orchestration layer.

That will allow the system to connect asset-price data with collateral-movement data and support collateral eligibility screening, margin calculations and settlement instructions.

Chainlink is a decentralized oracle network that links blockchains with external data they cannot access directly.

The partnership extends the Smart NAV pilot that DTCC and Chainlink conducted last year.

In that project, the companies worked with JPMorgan, BNY Mellon and Franklin Templeton to test linking fund net asset value, or NAV, data to blockchains.

DTCC is also moving to broaden its tokenization business beyond collateral management.

The company recently said more than 50 firms have joined a tokenized services working group at its subsidiary, the Depository Trust Company, or DTC. A limited live-transaction test is scheduled for July, with a full launch planned for October.

DTCC affiliates processed $4.7 quadrillion of securities transactions last year and held about $114 trillion of assets under custody, CoinDesk reported.