Prometheum Capital, HashKey Digital Asset Group, and Velocity Capital have signed a binding memorandum of understanding to build a distribution channel for tokenized U.S. equities aimed at eligible clients outside the United States, combining overseas licensed platforms with U.S. broker-dealer, custody, execution, and clearing infrastructure.
The proposed service would cover digital counterparts of U.S. securities held at The Depository Trust Company, the central securities depository operated by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation. Prometheum Capital and Velocity Capital would handle functions tied to the U.S. securities side of the arrangement, while HashKey would distribute the products through licensed venues in multiple overseas jurisdictions.
The agreement remains preliminary. The companies must negotiate final contracts, complete technical integrations, obtain applicable approvals, and wait for DTCC’s planned tokenization infrastructure to become available before a commercial launch or pilot can proceed.
U.S. clearing infrastructure is central to the proposal
The arrangement places traditional securities-market plumbing at the center of a tokenization plan that is designed for international distribution. Prometheum Capital is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and is a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority member. Velocity Capital is also SEC-registered and a FINRA member, with authorization to execute and clear traditional securities transactions.
Velocity Capital said it holds clearing memberships at The Depository Trust Company, the National Securities Clearing Corporation, and The Options Clearing Corporation. The firm provides execution, clearing, custody, and securities-lending services, including through correspondent clearing relationships.
Those relationships could give the planned product line access to established U.S. settlement and custody processes rather than requiring a separate offshore structure to represent the underlying shares. The final legal and operational design will determine how closely a token mirrors an underlying security, including the treatment of settlement, transfers, voting rights, corporate actions, and trading restrictions.
Prometheum Capital and Velocity Capital are expected to provide the custody, execution, and clearing services associated with the offering. HashKey, meanwhile, would take responsibility for reaching clients through venues that hold relevant local licenses. That division reflects the practical challenge of offering U.S.-linked securities internationally: a product needs both a regulated route to the underlying asset and a lawful means of distribution in every jurisdiction where it is offered.
Russell 1000 shares, ETFs and Treasuries are in scope
The proposed universe of tokenized assets is broad. The companies said eligible securities are expected to include constituents of the Russell 1000, the benchmark covering the 1,000 largest publicly traded U.S. companies by market capitalization.
The scope also includes exchange-traded funds tracking major indices, plus U.S. Treasury bills, notes, and bonds. Combining equities, index ETFs, and government debt would make the offering more than a single-stock tokenization project, though the companies have not disclosed which individual securities would be included in an initial pilot.
Treasury instruments could be especially useful in an international digital-asset setting because they offer a familiar dollar-denominated asset with defined maturities and established pricing. Index-tracking ETFs could similarly provide a simpler route to diversified U.S. equity exposure than a menu composed only of individual stocks.
The companies have not provided a launch timetable for the pilot, product terms, supported jurisdictions, or eligibility thresholds. Their disclosure said services would be offered only in locations where legal, regulatory, and licensing conditions have been satisfied, and only to eligible clients in specified jurisdictions.
DTCC’s planned service sets the timetable
The project is tied to DTCC’s Tokenization Service, which is expected to launch in the fourth quarter of 2026. DTCC operates key post-trade infrastructure for U.S. markets, including The Depository Trust Company and the National Securities Clearing Corporation.
The anticipated availability of DTCC tokenization infrastructure is one of the conditions for the companies’ plan. That dependency means the memorandum does not establish an immediately available trading venue or a live tokenized-equities product. Instead, it lays out the intended distribution and servicing framework for products that would be introduced after the necessary infrastructure and agreements are in place.
Tokenized securities have drawn attention partly because they could make ownership records and transfers more programmable, potentially allowing securities products to be delivered through systems familiar to digital-asset firms. Yet the value of such structures depends heavily on the connection between the token and the underlying security. In this case, the parties describe the underlying instruments as securities held at DTC, placing conventional securities custody and clearing beneath the planned digital format.
International access remains a persistent market constraint
The cross-border focus also reflects longstanding barriers facing global allocations to U.S. markets. The companies cited “Barriers to Global Capital Allocation,” a 2025 paper by Antonella Coppola, Matteo Maggiori, Brent Neiman, and Jesse Schreger published in The Quarterly Journal of Economics. The research examines frictions that can limit international portfolio allocation even in deeply connected financial markets.
Those frictions include differences in market access, intermediary networks, regulation, settlement arrangements, and product availability. A tokenized distribution model would not remove those constraints by itself, particularly because local rules and client-eligibility requirements still apply. It could, though, connect an overseas platform network with U.S.-based custody and clearing providers under a single proposed arrangement.
For HashKey, the memorandum offers a route to distribute U.S. securities-linked products through its licensed international operations. For Prometheum Capital and Velocity Capital, it extends their regulated securities functions into a market where demand for tokenized versions of conventional assets has been growing, but where product structures and legal rights can differ widely.
The next test will be whether the companies can translate the memorandum into final agreements and a functioning pilot before or after DTCC’s planned fourth-quarter 2026 service launch. Until then, the proposal remains a framework for bringing tokenized U.S. shares, ETFs, and Treasuries to eligible overseas clients through established U.S. securities infrastructure.
Curious about digital securities? Deepen your understanding in our guide on tokenized equities and their global market impact.
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