DTCC Digital Assets Launched as Firm Closes Securrency Acquisition

DTCC has closed the transaction to acquire Securrency, a developer of institutional-grade, digital asset infrastructure. DTCC announced the signing of the definitive agreement to acquire Securrency in October. With the acquisition complete, DTCC will retire the Securrency brand, and has renamed the business DTCC Digital Assets. It will operate as a business within DTCC, reporting into chief information officer Lynn Bishop. Nadine Chakar, CEO of Securrency, joins DTCC as managing director and global head of DTCC Digital Assets, reporting to Bishop. Chakar will also join the DTCC Management Committee. In addition, Dan Doney, CTO and founder of Securrency, will also join DTCC, along with COO and co-founder John Hensel and around 100 other employees. According to a story in MarketsMedia, by combining DTCC’s digital capabilities and Securrency’s technology, DTCC hopes to fast-track the development of its enterprise digital asset platform to unlock the power of institutional DeFi. DTCC will leverage the technology over time to embed digital assets within its existing products and services, develop new, regulatory-compliant blockchain-based offerings and explore use cases with the industry, including buyside asset managers, broker-dealers and custodians, to collaborate on new DTCC blockchain-based solutions. In addition, DTCC plans to license Securrency technology to the wider market, offering professional services to help firms transform and evolve their operating models – similar to how WisdomTree currently licenses Securrency’s software as part of the infrastructure for its WisdomTree Prime offering, which provides tokenized assets and funds via digital wallets for retail investors and consumers. DTCC also hopes to provide global leadership to foster industry-wide collaboration to help avoid fragmentation with different digital technologies and standards. Securrency’s technology can address this issue by acting as a DLT-agnostic harmonization layer that promotes interoperability, liquidity, transparency and security.