Why We Are Excited About the Canton Network

This post reflects Interstice Digital's views on the Canton Network based on publicly available information. Nothing in this post constitutes investment advice. Forward-looking statements reflect our current views and are subject to change.

At Interstice Digital, we build infrastructure slightly ahead of where the market is going. That means we spend a lot of time evaluating which blockchain networks are most likely to matter for institutional finance over the next several years. The Canton Network is at the top of that list — and we want to explain why.

What Canton Is

Canton is a public, permissionless blockchain built specifically for institutional finance. It was developed by Digital Asset and launched in 2023 with a founding consortium that included Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Börse, DTCC, Microsoft, and over 30 other major institutions.¹

The core design insight behind Canton is that the two things institutional finance needs most from a blockchain — privacy and interoperability — have historically been treated as opposites. Public blockchains offer interoperability but expose transaction data to anyone. Private blockchains offer privacy but create new silos. Canton's architecture is built to solve both problems simultaneously.

Canton is structured as a network of networks. Each participating institution operates its own ledger, maintaining control over its own data and workflows. These ledgers connect through a shared synchronization layer called the Global Synchronizer, which enables atomic transactions across applications while ensuring that only the parties to a transaction can see its details.²

Why the Architecture Matters

Most blockchain networks were designed for environments where transparency is a feature. In institutional finance, transparency is often a liability. A bank cannot expose its trading positions, counterparty relationships, or liquidity movements on a public ledger.

Canton solves this through transaction-level privacy controls powered by Daml smart contracts. Participants decide exactly which counterparties, regulators, or service providers can see which data. The result is a network where institutions can transact on a shared infrastructure without giving up the data controls their regulators and risk committees require.

We Believe the Traction Is Real

The Canton Network supports over $6 trillion in on-chain real-world assets and processes $280 billion in repos daily.³ Broadridge's Distributed Ledger Repo platform handles over $350 billion in daily repo transactions.⁴

In August 2025, Bank of America, Circle, Citadel Securities, DTCC, Société Générale, and Tradeweb executed the first weekend on-chain funding transaction involving US Treasuries and USDC — a meaningful signal that 24/7 capital markets are becoming operational reality.⁵

In June 2025, Digital Asset raised $135 million in a round led by DRW and Tradeweb, with participation from Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas, DTCC, Citadel Securities, Circle Ventures, and others.⁷

In December 2025, DTCC partnered with Digital Asset to tokenize DTC-custodied US Treasury securities on Canton, an initiative expected to move toward production in 2026 and backed by a no-action letter from the SEC.⁹

The Broader Shift: Markets Are Going 24/7

Canton's momentum does not exist in isolation. In January 2026, the New York Stock Exchange announced development of a platform for trading and on-chain settlement of tokenized securities, enabling 24/7 operations and instant settlement. LSEG launched a new digital settlement platform as part of its blockchain push.¹¹ Nasdaq has applied to the SEC for permission to support tokenized stocks.¹³

These are not speculative announcements. They are production commitments and regulatory filings from the most important market infrastructure operators in the world. The direction is clear: institutional capital markets are moving on-chain, and they are moving toward always-on operation.

Why Compliance-First Infrastructure Matters Here

The institutions using Canton are not doing so despite its compliance architecture — they are doing so because of it. DTCC's decision to build on Canton reflects an assessment that the system can function reliably at scale, under regulatory supervision, and within established legal frameworks. The SEC no-action letter supporting the DTCC initiative reinforces that regulators are prepared to engage with blockchain-based systems that meet governance and compliance standards.⁹

This regulatory posture is exactly what Interstice Digital cares about. Canton meets that bar in a way that very few blockchain networks do.

Where We Think This Is Going

We believe the next phase will involve more institutions building settlement and payment applications on top of Canton's infrastructure — and that those applications will need compliant connectivity to Ethereum and other networks to access broader liquidity. That is the specific gap the Interstice Cross-Chain Swap Engine is designed to fill.

We are building ahead of that demand. Canton is one of the reasons we believe the demand is coming.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Canton Network?

Canton is a public, permissionless blockchain purpose-built for institutional finance. It enables financial institutions to transact on a shared infrastructure while maintaining granular control over data privacy. It is governed by the Canton Foundation and uses Digital Asset's Daml smart contract language.

Who is using Canton today?

Active participants include DTCC, Goldman Sachs, Broadridge, BNP Paribas, HSBC, Euroclear, LSEG, Citadel Securities, Tradeweb, Société Générale, Circle, BNY, Nasdaq, S&P Global, and others. The network processes over $280 billion in daily repo transactions and supports over $6 trillion in on-chain real-world assets.

What does Interstice Digital build on Canton?

Interstice Digital is building the Cross-Chain Swap Engine to enable compliant atomic settlement between Canton and Ethereum. We believe that as Canton adoption grows, institutions will need compliant connectivity to Ethereum's liquidity ecosystem — and that is the infrastructure gap we are building to fill.

Sources

¹ Wikipedia, Canton Network.

² Talos, Special Report: Inside the Canton Network.

³ Canton Network / Chainlink Partnership Announcement, September 2025.

⁴ Genfinity, Inside the Canton Network, January 2026.

⁵ Tiger Research, Canton Network: Most Realistic Blockchain, September 2025.

⁶ Securities Finance Times, Nasdaq Partners with Canton Network, June 2025.

⁷ Digital Asset / Tradeweb, Digital Asset Raises $135 Million, June 2025.

⁸ PR Newswire, Digital Asset Announces Strategic Investments, December 2025.

⁹ DTCC, DTCC and Digital Asset Partner to Tokenize DTC-Custodied US Treasury Securities, December 2025.

¹⁰ Tradeweb, Canton's Industry Working Group, February 2026.

¹¹ Bloomberg, LSEG Starts New Digital Settlement Platform, January 2026.

¹² ICE / NYSE, The New York Stock Exchange Develops Tokenized Securities Platform, January 2026.

¹³ Ledger Insights, NYSE to Launch New Venue for Tokenized Stocks, January 2026.

¹⁴ DTCC, The Shift to 24x5 Trading.

This post reflects the views of Interstice Digital based on publicly available information as of March 2026. It does not constitute investment advice. Forward-looking statements reflect current views and are subject to change. Interstice Digital is building on Canton Network infrastructure. Readers should conduct their own independent research.