From Wall Street to Hong Kong: Why Top Institutions Are Turning to Canton Network for Blockchain Adoption

The phrase "The future of finance lies on-chain" has become a widely accepted notion, and this belief has been further solidified as the U.S. SEC launches its "crypto agenda," driving the U.S. financial markets toward a comprehensive migration to blockchain technology.

But how can the future of finance take place on-chain more effectively and rapidly?

We are witnessing a shared choice by both Eastern and Western traditional capital markets: the Canton Network.

In June 2025, Digital Asset, the developer behind Canton Network, successfully raised $135 million in a Series E funding round led by DRW Venture Capital and Tradeweb Markets. Participating investors included BNP Paribas, Circle Ventures, Citadel Securities, Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), and Goldman Sachs. This brings Digital Asset's total funding to nearly $400 million.

On the adoption front:

In the Western world, Goldman Sachs' digital asset platform GS DAP, BNP Paribas' Neobonds, and Broadridge's DLR have all been developed using Canton technology.

In the Eastern sphere, HSBC's Orion platform is built on Canton technology, and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has joined the Canton Foundation.

A report published by RedStone in June 2025, titled "Real-World Assets in On-Chain Finance," revealed that Canton has tokenized assets worth over $4 trillion. Since 2022, more than half of digital bond issuances have been executed through Canton-based applications.

At the initial stage of institutional-driven on-chain finance's explosive growth, Canton Network has already emerged as a key driver in the digital transformation of traditional financial markets.

The widespread adoption by top-tier global institutions not only underscores the high level of recognition for Canton’s technical architecture and business philosophy but also highlights its exceptional capabilities in institutional-grade security, compliance, and interoperability.

Canton Network, launched by Digital Asset as a public blockchain network designed specifically for institutional-grade applications, offers customizable privacy, network-wide interoperability, and unlimited horizontal scalability. Its goal is to better connect traditional finance with the crypto capital markets.

In 2025, Canton Network successfully completed major pilot projects such as the tokenization of U.S. Treasury collateral, gold, and European bonds. These achievements marked its transition from the experimental growth phase to the scaled deployment phase.

As highlighted by Canton Network's official X platform tagline, "where finance flows," the network is accelerating the pace of institutional adoption, shaping a future of on-chain finance characterized by 24/7 liquidity, global trust, security, and compliance at the institutional level.

Born from Institutional Needs, Launched by a Consortium of Leading Institutions

The concept of building the Canton Network first emerged in 2023.

During the initial wave of DeFi and RWA popularity, numerous traditional financial institutions began recognizing the advantages of on-chain finance: seamless and efficient capital flow around the clock, cross-border operations with minimal friction and cost, global accessibility without permission barriers, and the boundless financial innovation enabled by programmable smart contracts.

At the same time, the vast user base, robust financial resources, mature risk management systems, and the trust accumulated over centuries of operation by traditional financial institutions were poised to drive broader adoption of blockchain technology.

It was meant to be a mutually beneficial convergence, yet traditional institutions faced significant challenges in transitioning to blockchain:

• Privacy and Compliance Issues: Public blockchains, with their fully transparent ledgers, conflict with the stringent privacy requirements of the financial industry, such as KYC, AML, and GDPR regulations. The exposure of certain data details may lead to legal risks and competitive disadvantages. While private blockchains offer privacy, they lack openness and ecosystem connectivity.

• Interoperability and Fragmented Liquidity: Financial systems are highly siloed and fragmented, with inefficient collaboration across systems. Blockchain cross-chain solutions are plagued by high operational complexity, elevated costs, and security concerns.

• Technical Integration and Development Complexity: Integrating traditional financial systems with blockchain technology comes with high barriers and costs. Missteps could result in significant financial risks. Additionally, institutions must balance innovation with compliance, further complicating their transition to blockchain.

Private blockchains fail due to their lack of openness, while general-purpose public blockchains fall short due to insufficient privacy. Institutions were waiting for a solution that could deliver both—a low-barrier, high-performance framework capable of balancing these needs.

This dilemma was quickly identified by Digital Asset, whose core team members hailed from major traditional financial institutions.

The $400 million raised by Digital Asset is often attributed to its impressive team composition, which is frequently a topic of admiration.

Yuval Rooz, co-founder and CEO, previously worked at DRW, a leading quantitative trading firm, and Citadel Securities, a renowned market-making company. He also served as a member of the Digital Asset Markets Subcommittee within the Global Markets Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Another co-founder, Don Wilson, founded DRW in 1992. Under his leadership, DRW has grown into one of the world's largest proprietary trading firms, employing over 2,000 people globally.

The other three co-founders bring specialized technical expertise to Digital Asset. Eric Saraniecki, Head of Network Strategy, built a trading platform focused on illiquid commodity markets at DRW Trading and co-founded Cumberland Mining. COO Shaul Kfir has served as CTO for two startups and has a background in cryptography research. CTO Ratko Veprek is a key contributor to Daml, Digital Asset's proprietary smart contract language.

With solid institutional experience, deep research in the crypto space, and strong technical implementation capabilities, the idea of designing an open public blockchain tailored for institutional-grade applications quickly took shape. This framework aimed to balance the transparency of decentralization with the privacy requirements of financial regulation:

Institutions would operate independent sub-ledgers, enabling atomic settlement across ledgers through a shared synchronization layer. This approach ensures privacy and autonomy while achieving seamless collaboration and scalability across systems.

The vision resonated with leading global institutions. Over 30 organizations, including BNP Paribas, Capgemini, CBOE, Deloitte, and Deutsche Börse, formed a consortium to support the realization of this idea. In May 2023, the Canton Network mainnet officially went live.

So, how does Canton Network, as an eagerly anticipated open public blockchain, address all these challenges?

Tailored for Institutional Adoption: Canton’s Product Design Philosophy

Canton Network employs a unique two-layer consensus mechanism and integrates core modules such as the Daml smart contract language, a global synchronization layer, and the Canton Coin token.

Together, these features enable unlimited horizontal scalability, seamless interoperability across the network, and robust privacy protection alongside efficient synchronization.

1. Sub-Ledgers and Synchronization Layer: Facilitating Cross-System Collaboration

Canton Network is described as a "network of networks." While this concept may sound abstract at first, it is actually quite straightforward.

• Sub-Ledgers:

In Canton Network, each institution operates its own independent distributed ledger. Banks, exchanges, and funds, for instance, have sub-ledgers that store transaction data relevant to their operations.

Validation nodes can either be run by the institutions themselves or outsourced to Canton service providers. Each sub-ledger’s validation nodes are responsible for verifying transactions, maintaining network security, executing consensus protocols, and interacting with the synchronization layer to complete cross-ledger transactions. Currently, Canton Network boasts over 350 validation nodes.

These sub-ledgers can be thought of as individual mini-networks dedicated to specific institutions.

• Global Synchronization Layer:

How do these mini-networks connect with the broader ecosystem? The global synchronization layer serves this purpose.

As Canton’s central coordination mechanism, the synchronization layer links all sub-ledgers, facilitating message exchanges and transaction validation between them. It ensures consistency and atomicity in transactions across the network.

Importantly, the synchronization layer does not store detailed transaction data. Instead, it handles metadata, such as transaction hashes and zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP), which are used for validation. This design enhances privacy and optimizes overall network performance.

The Super Validator Alliance guarantees connectivity between the synchronization layer and sub-ledgers. Canton currently has 30 super validators, including prominent institutions like Broadridge, LayerZero, Moody’s, and SBI Digital Asset Holdings. This setup ensures decentralization and regulatory compliance.

By eliminating barriers between sub-ledgers and different financial ecosystems, Canton enables global interoperability. Institutions maintain control over their data and nodes, while simultaneously gaining the capability to collaborate effectively within the global financial ecosystem. Each sub-ledger integrates smoothly, establishing Canton Network as a genuine "network of networks."

2. Daml Smart Contracts: Enabling Customizable Privacy

Institutions often have complex privacy needs due to varying financial operations and compliance requirements. The Daml smart contract language is key to managing these customized privacy demands.

Designed specifically for institutional finance, Daml offers several standout features:

• Permission Management: Daml contracts define the rights and obligations of transaction parties, ensuring that only relevant parties can access data.

• Programmable Workflows: Daml supports intricate financial logic, including conditional payments, collateral transfers, and multi-party agreements.

• Formal Verification: Mathematical techniques verify the logic of Daml contracts, reducing code vulnerabilities and ensuring the accuracy of contract execution.

• Low Barrier to Entry: Daml is easy to develop and audit. It also supports seamless migration across ecosystems without requiring code rewrites, lowering transition costs.

Sub-ledgers use Daml smart contracts to define transaction logic and privacy rules. Canton complements this with privacy technologies like ZKP and MPC. In practice, ZKP validates transaction validity, MPC enables decentralized computation, and Daml contracts define access permissions (such as embedding AML/KYC logic). Transaction details are isolated within the relevant sub-ledgers, while the synchronization layer processes only metadata for consensus coordination. Together, these mechanisms implement a "need-to-know" privacy model.

This approach allows institutions to conduct on-chain operations with minimal technical barriers, scale their operations across ecosystems, and configure privacy rules based on regional regulatory requirements. By storing transaction details exclusively within relevant sub-ledgers, Canton ensures compliance with "data minimization" principles.

3. High-Performance Atomic Settlement: Secure and Efficient Capital Flow

Canton’s sub-ledger and synchronization layer design achieves "logical sharding," where participants store only the ledgers relevant to them. This not only enhances privacy but also boosts throughput performance, making Canton better suited for high-frequency financial scenarios.

Additionally, the synchronization layer executes atomic operations, ensuring transactions either fully succeed or fail. This minimizes execution risks and further enhances secure and efficient capital flow.

4. Canton Coin: Core Mechanism for Governance and Incentives

Canton Coin serves as the native token within the Canton ecosystem, offering broad utility:

• Transaction Fees: Institutions use Canton Coin to pay transaction fees, covering computational and storage costs. Fees are dynamically adjusted based on network load.

• Node Incentives: Validation nodes earn Canton Coin rewards for running consensus protocols and maintaining sub-ledgers.

• Governance Support: Canton Coin holders can participate in governance voting through the Global Synchronizer Foundation (GSF), influencing network upgrades and rules.

Canton Coin employs a "burn-and-mint equilibrium" mechanism to ensure token supply aligns with network demand and maintains value stability. The token has undergone a comprehensive audit by Quantstamp, a renowned auditing firm.

Regarding allocation, 50% of Canton Coin is dedicated to incentivizing application developers, highlighting Canton’s commitment to attracting builders and fostering ecosystem growth.

The diagram below offers a clear comparison of Canton Network as a public blockchain tailored for institutional applications versus private blockchains and other general-purpose public blockchains.

From Pilot to Deployment: Catalyzing the Growth of On-Chain Finance

Canton Network is an open Layer 1 blockchain designed specifically for institutional applications, enabling all types of institutional financial operations to move on-chain.

When discussing institutional adoption of blockchain, many people may think first of RWA. However, the scope of institutional blockchain adoption extends well beyond RWA. While RWA involves the on-chain representation of real-world assets, institutional blockchain adoption includes not only tokenization of various real-world assets but also the creation, issuance, and trading of native on-chain assets. These include but are not limited to:

• Asset Tokenization: Facilitating the conversion of traditional assets such as government bonds, real estate, and gold into digital tokens, thereby improving liquidity, reducing transaction costs, and enabling 24/7 global trading.

• Collateral Liquidity Management: Enabling institutions to manage collateral such as bonds and cash on-chain, allowing instantaneous cross-system and cross-chain exchanges, optimizing liquidity, and reducing risk exposure.

• Cross-Border Payments and Settlements: Supporting cross-border payments and settlements among institutions, leveraging blockchain technology for instantaneous, transparent, and low-cost fund transfers that replace inefficient and costly traditional systems.

• Institutional DeFi: Allowing institutions to participate in decentralized finance activities such as on-chain lending, derivatives trading, and liquidity pools, while ensuring privacy protection and regulatory compliance.

As the key driver of digital transformation in traditional financial markets, Canton Network has already gained significant support and achieved substantial breakthroughs across various institutional blockchain use cases.

Major Pilot Programs in 2024

In 2024, Canton Network successfully conducted three major pilot programs:

• March 2024: Comprehensive Tokenization of RWA

This pilot aimed to validate Canton’s privacy protection and interoperability in capital markets. It involved 22 decentralized applications (dApps), including 5 fund registries, 5 cash registries, 3 bond registries, 3 trading applications, 4 margin applications, and 2 financing applications. The pilot covered scenarios such as asset tokenization, fund registration, digital cash, repo agreements, securities lending, and margin management.

The program attracted 155 participants from 45 leading global organizations, including Mellon Bank, Broadridge, DRW, EquiLend, Goldman Sachs, Oliver Wyman, Paxos, Baymarkets, BNP Paribas, BOK Financial, Cboe Global Markets, Commerzbank, DTCC, Generali Investments, Harvest Fund Management, Visa, and Microsoft.

• September 2024: On-Chain U.S. Treasury Collateral Pilot

This pilot focused on demonstrating Canton’s ability to optimize collateral liquidity, settlement efficiency, costs, and latency. It revolved around using Canton to facilitate on-chain financing and collateral transactions involving U.S. Treasuries, supporting 24/7 operations, reducing risk exposure, and complying with SEC regulations.

Leading institutions actively participated in the pilot, which was led by Digital Asset and DTCC and included major banks and custodians such as BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, and Paxos.

• October 2024: Multi-Asset Tokenization Pilot

This pilot aimed to validate Canton’s privacy protection and interoperability across diverse asset classes. It included tokenization of UK government bonds, European bonds, and gold.

Twenty-seven top global institutions participated in this pilot, issuing tokenized assets based on Canton. Participants included Euroclear, the World Gold Council, Clifford Chance, BNP Paribas, and Microsoft.

These three pilot programs showcased Canton Network’s strong capabilities in driving institutional blockchain adoption and provided valuable experience for transitioning from "pilot phase" to "practical implementation."

Key Milestones in 2025

In 2025, Canton Network unveiled several major initiatives that demonstrated its immense potential in advancing institutional blockchain adoption and fostering the growth of on-chain finance:

• February 2025: Canton launched the first phase of the Global Collateral Network (GCN) in collaboration with Euroclear.

• June 2025: Nasdaq integrated Canton Network’s blockchain technology into its Calypso platform to automate 24/7 margin and collateral management.

• July 2025: Goldman Sachs and Mellon Bank announced the tokenization of $7.1 trillion in money market funds, choosing Canton as the underlying network.

• July 2025: Four major global digital asset liquidity providers, B2C2, Cumberland DRW, FalconX, and GSR, joined Canton Network’s on-chain collateral program. This application will be available to all derivatives traders after its Q3 launch.

• August 2025: CBTC launched on Canton, driving institutional Bitcoin adoption.

• August 2025: Canton Network partnered with Bank of America, Citadel, DTCC, Société Générale, and Circle to complete the first real-time on-chain U.S. Treasury financing transaction. This involved using USDC stablecoin and tokenized U.S. Treasuries for weekend settlements, bypassing the limitations of traditional weekday-only systems.

Additionally, multiple renowned institutions, including 21Shares and 7Ridge, announced plans to develop next-generation financial applications on Canton Network. The Canton ecosystem now boasts over 181 institutional partners.

From DeFi to TradFi, from crypto-native firms to legacy institutions, Canton Network is emerging as the core infrastructure for on-chain finance. It is achieving true business adoption and fostering ecosystem prosperity on an unprecedented scale.

Global Institutional Recognition: Asia as the Next Growth Frontier

Canton is purpose-built for institutional blockchain adoption, and institutional support is a key factor in its development. However, gaining widespread recognition from global institutions, whether in Web2 or Web3, is a rare achievement in itself.

From North America and Europe to Asia, Canton has secured backing from top-tier institutions worldwide, creating a competitive advantage that other blockchains find hard to replicate. This has positioned Canton as a leader in the niche field of "institutional-grade blockchain infrastructure."

North America serves as the headquarters for Digital Asset, the team behind Canton. Leveraging the team’s strong entrepreneurial and professional background in institutional finance, Canton has garnered support from major names in the North American market, including Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Mellon Bank, Bank of America, Moody’s, and Paxos.

With the U.S. SEC’s "crypto agenda" pushing the financial market’s migration onto blockchain, Canton is actively collaborating with its supporters to facilitate the on-chain adoption of key financial infrastructures such as dollar stablecoins and tokenized U.S. Treasuries, injecting new efficiencies into traditional finance.

Europe is another stronghold for Canton, with prominent institutions like BNP Paribas, Deutsche Börse Group, Capgemini, Deloitte, Commerzbank, and Kaiko joining the ecosystem. Together, they are advancing innovative practices in the tokenization of Eurozone assets, on-chain bonds, and cross-border settlement operations.

In Asia, Canton’s strategic presence is expanding rapidly and deeply. In Hong Kong, HSBC has successfully issued multiple bonds on Canton, while the Hong Kong Monetary Authority has joined Canton’s governance foundation. In Japan, financial giant SBI Digital Asset Holdings is an early supporter and key participant in Canton. In Singapore, Canton is collaborating with QCP Capital to develop on-chain collateral and margin management solutions for bilateral derivatives.

Meanwhile, Hydra X has become the first authorized custodian of Canton Coin in the Asia-Pacific region. In the Middle East, First Abu Dhabi Bank announced plans to issue the region’s first digital bond through HSBC’s Orion digital asset platform, with the bond set to be listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.

Notably, as Asia continues to rise rapidly in the global fintech landscape, Canton has significantly increased its strategic investments and resource allocation in the region, demonstrating its confidence in Asia’s potential and its commitment to long-term development there.

On September 25, 2025, during Korea Blockchain Week in Seoul, Canton will sponsor and actively participate in the "Asia Stablecoin Conference (ASC)." Canton will collaborate with multiple institutions to explore innovative approaches to stablecoins in areas such as regulation, cross-border payments, and asset pegging, further expanding its presence in Korea and the broader Asia market.

Additionally, at the upcoming TOKEN2049 Singapore event, Canton plans to host dedicated side sessions, deliver keynote speeches, and participate in panel discussions. These activities aim to foster deeper collaborations with leading capital firms, exchanges, custodians, and regulatory bodies in Asia, further strengthening Canton’s influence in the Asia-Pacific region.

Many readers interested in Canton may notice an intriguing coincidence when translating its name: "Canton" is the historical English name for Guangzhou, a city in China’s Greater Bay Area, which serves as a critical hub linking East Asian finance to the global economy.

From the West to Asia, Canton Network is earning the trust of the global financial world with its true institutional-grade capabilities. Asia is emerging as the pivotal focus for its next phase of growth.

The Future of Institutional Blockchain Finance

From tokenized stocks and RWA to the on-chain migration of U.S. equities, this cycle of blockchain development is being led by institutions, driving the evolution of on-chain finance.

As a public blockchain network designed specifically for institutional-grade applications, Canton Network has positioned itself as a vital bridge to the blockchain era. Its advanced privacy framework, compliance capabilities, and seamless interoperability make it a key enabler for institutions. Backed by top-tier global institutions, Canton has also become an essential decentralized infrastructure for the digital transformation of traditional finance.

As the Canton Network tagline aptly states, "Where finance flows," it is where institutional finance converges and thrives.

Currently, Canton Network is transitioning from large-scale pilot projects to broader multi-scenario adoption. It is rapidly emerging as a central hub where tradition meets innovation, East meets West, and the present connects with the future.

With the launch of new collaborative products and the deepening of strategic initiatives, Canton Network is paving the way for the next wave of institution-driven blockchain finance. From efficient on-chain settlements to cross-border stablecoin payments, from RWA tokenization to institution-enabled DeFi innovation, this new era of financial transformation is set to unfold on Canton Network across the globe, from the West to Asia.

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