Clearinghouse DTCC Snaps Up Blockchain Startup Securrency

By Mat Di Salvo

Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. (DTCC) today announced that it had agreed to buy digital asset infrastructure firm Securrency in a bid to make bigger inroads into the blockchain space.

In a Thursday announcement, the U.S. clearinghouse said that it had signed an agreement to acquire Securrency—but did not say for how much.

Bloomberg citing anonymous sources reported that DTCC bought Securrency for about $50 million. DTCC told Decrypt that it could not reveal the financial terms of the acquisition.

The firm said in a statement that the "acquisition will position the clearinghouse to provide global leadership in bridging best-in-class industry practices with advanced digital technology to encourage adoption of digital assets."

It added that the DTCC would be able to provide "global leadership" to push the "acceptance and adoption of digital assets."

DTCC works to provide clearing and settlement services to the financial markets—processing transactions and trades.

It doesn't have the same kind of name recognition as the Nasdaq or New York Stock Exchange, but that's because it plays a critical infrastructure role that makes those exchanges run. It's the sole central securities depository in the U.S.. And, unsurprisingly, its services have been dubbed Systemically Important Financial Market Utilities (SIFMUs) under the Dodd-Frank Act.

DTCC handles an astounding $2.3 quadrillion—that's $1 billion times $2.3 million—worth of stock sales annually, which makes it the largest financial clearinghouse in the world.

The firm has developed an interest for the digital asset space as of late. Its managing director, head of talent management and diversity, equity and inclusion, Keisha Bell, even joined the board of directors for collapsed crypto exchange FTX's American derivatives arm, FTX US Derivatives.

DTCC president, CEO and director Frank La Salla, said that the deal would give the firm "the technology to drive market-wide transformation by enabling end-to-end digital lifecycle processing for tokenized assets, digital currencies and other financial instruments."

Following the deal, Securrency will become a fully-owned subsidiary of DTCC and will operate under the name DTCC Digital Assets.

Edited by Stacy Elliott.

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