For a long time, "blockchain for banks" seemed more like a theory than a reality. Many assumed the world’s largest financial firms were just running small, isolated pilot programs. But what if the core infrastructure for institutional finance was already built, live, and settling hundreds of billions daily? This isn't a future projection. It's the Canton Network, and it’s already operating at a massive scale, powered by the very institutions that define global finance.
Key Takeaways
- Global banks are active builders. Top-tier institutions are building their own proprietary platforms on Canton to issue and manage digital assets.
- Core market functions are live. The network is already managing essential, high-volume financial infrastructure. This includes Broadridge's platform, which settles billions in daily transactions.
- Industry consortiums are solving data problems. Groups of banks have formed platforms to manage shared, real-time data for complex markets, such as syndicated loans.
- Settlement and custody are integrated. The foundation includes critical post-trade services from giants like Euroclear and Nasdaq.
- A regulated bridge exists. The ecosystem is supported by a necessary layer of regulated custodians (like Zodia Custody) and exchanges (like FCX), providing the compliant gateways institutions need to operate.
Welcome to our series on the Canton Network Ecosystem!
Before diving in, what is the Canton Network? It is a privacy-first, public-permissioned blockchain developed by Digital Asset, which went live in 2024. Its entire purpose is to connect traditionally siloed financial systems, allowing them to interact and transact with each other seamlessly and securely.
By 2025, Canton Network has become a powerhouse, supporting an incredible $6 trillion in on-chain RWAs and processing over $339 billion in daily repo transactions through key applications. What makes it unique is its focus on privacy, interoperability, and compliance - three non-negotiables for institutional adoption. It uses the powerful Daml smart contract language to ensure complex financial agreements (like bonds or loans) are executed seamlessly and automatically.
The ecosystem is both deep and wide, with over 180 active projects and over 500 validators (including 30+ "super validators") securing the network. This isn't just a testnet, it's a live, production-grade environment where the world's largest financial players are actively tokenizing trillions of dollars in assets.
This article is the first in a series of articles on the Canton Ecosystem, and examines the network's foundation that give it weight: the massive, regulated institutions and critical market infrastructure that have adopted this technology to move real-world financial operations on-chain.
Banks and Financial Institutions
Meet the global banking giants. This group includes players like BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs and BNY Mellon, all using Canton for large-scale operations like issuing digital bonds, managing syndicated loans, and handling repo transactions.
Banco Santander
Banco Santander stands as Spain's largest multinational bank and a blockchain pioneer since 2019. In 2021, Santander co-managed the launch of the first EIB's €100 million digitally bond on blockchain.
In September 2025, its digital subsidiary, Openbank, launched a cryptocurrency trading service for retail customers in Germany and Spain. The following month, Santander joined a major consortium with nine other leading global banks, including Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, to explore reserve-backed digital assets pegged to G7 currencies for use on public blockchains.
BNP Paribas
France's largest bank, BNP Paribas, runs Global Markets Neobonds, a private tokenization platform on Canton that uses Digital Asset's DAML smart contracts. Neobonds manages the full process for digital bonds. In July 2024, the bank issued the first Eurozone sovereign digital bond (EUR 30 million) for the Republic of Slovenia. Reinforcing its commitment to this technology, BNP Paribas also invested in Digital Asset's Series E funding round in June 2025.
Separately, the bank has partnered with Chainlink on a pilot project, working alongside other financial institutions to automate the processing of corporate actions.
BNY Melon
BNY Mellon, the world's largest custodian bank managing $55.8 trillion in assets, is pioneering the adoption of the Canton Network through multiple production initiatives in 2025. In July 2025, it partnered with Goldman Sachs to launch the first U.S. tokenized money market fund solution on the Canton Network.
The initiative integrates BNY's LiquidityDirect platform with Goldman Sachs' GS DAP® platform built on Canton Network infrastructure. The bank serves as market expertise provider in Canton pilots, enabling other institutions to execute tokenized securities, money market funds, and deposit transactions across permissioned blockchains while maintaining regulatory controls. BNY Mellon is among the major institutions backing Temple Digital Group, which is building privacy-focused trading infrastructure on the Canton Network.
Commerzbank AG
Commerzbank AG, a leading German bank, is connected to Broadridge DLR platform for its tokenized repo activities. The DLR platform is a key part of the Canton Network ecosystem, which Commerzbank uses for efficient and privacy-preserving settlements.
Additionally, the bank participates in Global Digital Finance's tokenized collateral trials alongside 30+ major institutions including BlackRock, State Street, and UBS. This initiative addresses the challenge of using tokenized money market funds as collateral, allowing instant transfers that could mitigate financial crises like the 2022 UK gilts crisis.
European Investment Bank (EIB)
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the EU's primary financial institution that support economic development, innovation, and strategic investments across Europe and beyond.
In November 2024, the EIB demonstrated its leadership in digital finance by issuing two €100 million digital bonds within HSBC Orion and GS DAP® platform on Canton. This issuance, called Project Venus, was settled with experimental wholesale CBDC from the central banks of France and Luxembourg.
By January 2025, the EIB's digital bonds made up a large share of global tokenized bond volume. The bank has since issued two more €100 million digital bonds and started new pilots for tokenized infrastructure financing.
Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs is a leading global investment bank that operates across investment banking, global markets, asset management, and consumer wealth management, serving institutional and individual clients globally. In 2023, Goldman Sachs has expanded into digital assets, reviving its cryptocurrency trading desk and launching its GS DAP® (Goldman Sachs Digital Assets Platform) built on Daml smart contracts and Canton Network infrastructure. As a founding member of Canton Network since 2023, Goldman Sachs is integral to this blockchain ecosystem designed for financial institutions, enabling secure and interoperable tokenized transactions with 30+ members including BNP Paribas, Deutsche Börse, and Microsoft.
The company launched multiple tokenization initiatives including 24/7 tokenized Treasury bond trading, tokenized money market funds ($7.1 trillion industry target with BlackRock and Fidelity), and the GS DAP® platform being spun out as an independent company by mid-2026 to provide market-neutral tokenization infrastructure. Goldman also participates in Canton Network pilots for tokenizing gilts, eurobonds, and gold, positioning itself as a key institutional driver of blockchain-based financial markets and digital asset infrastructure.
Hong Kong Digital Asset Initiatives
In Asia, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has spearheaded key initiatives involving the Canton network through its digital green bond program. The HKSAR Government has demonstrated its commitment to tokenized finance through two landmark issuances.
The inaugural HK$800 million tokenized green bond in February 2023 was the world's first government-issued tokenized green bond. This issuance was settled on a private blockchain leveraging Goldman Sachs' tokenization platform (GS DAP®), which runs on the Canton network. A four-bank syndicate - Bank of China (Hong Kong), Crédit Agricole CIB, Goldman Sachs, and HSBC, served as joint global coordinators for the deal.
Building on this success, the HKSAR Government issued a substantially larger HK$6 billion multi-currency digital green bond in February 2024, representing the world's first multi-currency digital bond offering. This second issuance expanded the consortium to six banks: Bank of China (Hong Kong), Crédit Agricole CIB, Goldman Sachs (Asia), HSBC, ICBC (Asia), and UBS, serving as joint global coordinators. The 2024 issuance also introduced innovation by being the first digitally native bond format in Hong Kong, issued directly in digital format rather than being converted from traditional systems, and was settled through HSBC Orion as the digital assets platform.
HSBC
A global financial powerhouse, HSBC, operates its own permissioned digital asset platform, Orion, built on Canton tech for issuing bonds and other private assets. The bank has been a key participant in tokenization, notably serving as a joint lead manager for EIB digital bonds, Hong Kong's inaugural tokenized green bond and member in of the HKMA's Project Ensemble, a wholesale CBDC initiative.
In September 2025, HSBC became a governance participant in the Canton Foundation, joining other major players like Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas among over 30 Foundation members. The bank also announced a world-first quantum computing trial with IBM exploring algorithmic bond trading optimization, delivering up to 34% improvement in predicting customer inquiry fill rates in European corporate bond markets.
Société Générale
French banking giant Société Générale participates extensively on the Canton Network, operating as a validator and leveraging its digital asset division, SG-Forge. The bank acted as a joint lead manager for the EIB's digital bonds, establishing its role in the institutional digital asset space.
Building on this, Société Générale participated in an on-chain U.S. Treasury repo financing in August 2025, demonstrating institutional-grade settlement capabilities. In September 2025, it became the first global bank that deploy regulated stablecoins directly in DeFi protocols.
United Banks on the Versana Platform
The Versana platform operates on the Canton Network, supplying real-time, synchronized data for the $8 trillion global syndicated loan market.
The platform was founded in March 2022 by a group of four banks: Bank of America, Citi, Credit Suisse (acquired by UBS), and J.P. Morgan. The consortium expanded with additional investors in March 2023, when Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, U.S. Bancorp, and Wells Fargo joined. Barclays became the most recent investor in September 2024.
Versana uses DAML smart contract language on the Canton blockchain. This technology automates the secure sharing of agent bank loan data, which improves transparency while reducing manual work and operational risks. Currently, seven global systemically important banks use the platform, which as of early 2025 manages approximately $3.5 trillion in loan commitments across more than 6,000 corporate loan facilities. Versana aims to streamline the entire lifecycle of syndicated loans and plans to expand into private credit, middle-market deals, and international markets.
Core Market Infrastructure, Settlement & Custody
This group provides the essential framework for the market. Its projects deliver the critical post-trade settlement, institutional-grade custody, and data integrity the ecosystem needs to function. You'll find giants here like Broadridge, processing billions in daily repos, and Nasdaq.
Broadridge
Broadridge, a global fintech leader, operates Broadridge DLR (Distributed Ledger Repo), the largest institutional platform for settling tokenized assets on the Canton Network.
The DLR platform processed a record $339 billion in average daily repo transactions in September 2025, accounting for approximately 3% of the total U.S. repo market.
In 2025, Broadridge expanded DLR's capabilities by partnering with Fnality in April to allow for the settlement of intraday repos using tokenized deposits, and by launching a data application with Kaiko on Canton in September for distributing DLR metrics. As a core Canton participant, Broadridge DLR provides institutional repo users with secure, 24/7 settlement for tokenized U.S. Treasuries and other collateral.
BitGo
BitGo is a digital asset infrastructure company that delivers custody, settlement, staking, and trading services from regulated cold storage, managing over $90 billion in assets on its platform across more than 9.3 million wallets created. The company is a foundational provider for institutions, accelerating the financial system's transition to a digital asset economy.
In a significant development for institutional access, BitGo announced its infrastructure support for the Canton Network in October 2025. This integration establishes BitGo as the first U.S.-based qualified custodian to provide custody for Canton Coin (CC), the network's native token.
Calastone
The world's largest global funds network, Calastone, connecting over 4,500 financial firms across 58+ markets and processing over ÂŁ250 billion (approximately $330 billion USD) in investment value monthly, enabling tokenized fund distribution for leading financial organizations. In April 2025, Calastone launched Calastone Tokenised Distribution, a solution that allows asset managers to tokenize any fund on its network and distribute seamlessly across blockchain-based channels including Ethereum, Polygon, and Canton Network, without requiring changes to existing fund structure, administration, or servicing.
This innovation enhances liquidity for tokenized assets on Canton by bridging traditional investment infrastructure with Canton's privacy-enabled institutional blockchain environment, targeting new investor groups including corporate treasurers managing on-chain cash, stablecoin issuers, and crypto-experienced investors.
Copper
Copper is an institutional digital asset custody, prime services, and collateral management provider serving the Canton Network as a validator and market infrastructure provider. Its flagship product is ClearLoop, an off-exchange settlement network that allows over 1,000 institutional clients to trade on exchanges like Coinbase and Bybit while their assets remain secure in Copper's custody. This network, which processes over $50 billion in monthly notional trading volume, significantly reduces counterparty risk and improves capital efficiency.
During 2025, Copper expanded ClearLoop's reach and announced key partnerships. In August, it launched Coinmatch, a multi-dealer RFQ platform for institutional crypto derivatives trading developed with Quadra. This was followed in October by a collaboration with BCB Group to provide seamless fiat-to-crypto services for its custody clients. These moves solidify Copper's role in providing the core custody, collateral, and trading infrastructure for institutions on the Canton Network.
Crypto Finance AG
Crypto Finance AG, part of the Deutsche Börse Group, operates as a FINMA and BaFin-regulated validator and financial institution on the Canton Network. It provides MiCA-compliant trading, custody, and staking services for tokenized and real-world assets, serving institutions across Switzerland, Germany, and Europe.
In March 2025, the firm expanded its institutional reach by becoming the sub-custodian for Clearstream, Deutsche Börse's post-trade business with €21 trillion in assets under management. This integration offers MiCA-compliant crypto custody and settlement with SWIFT connectivity for assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum. This move, along with partnerships with major banks like Commerzbank, supports Deutsche Börse's broader tokenized asset strategy, enabling European financial institutions to securely access digital assets within a regulated framework on Canton.
Euroclear
Euroclear, a leading post-trade services provider, is using the Canton Network to improve collateral mobility. An October 2024 pilot with 27 participants, including the World Gold Council, successfully tokenized gilts, Eurobonds, and gold. The pilot proved 24/7 collateral movement was possible with over 500 instant transactions, showing potential cost savings of 35-65%.
Building on this, Euroclear and Digital Asset launched the Canton Global Collateral Network (GCN) initiative in February 2025. This project applies Euroclear's expertise to build a 24/7 collateral market. The goal is to solve key inefficiencies, like the physical storage of gold, and allow assets from massive markets (like UK Gilts and Eurobonds) to be settled instantly.
Fairmint
Fairmint is an SEC-registered Transfer Agent that converts cap tables into smart contracts, enabling compliant tokenized equity issuance and management on the Canton Network. In 2022 Fairmint launched the Open Cap Table Protocol (OCP), an open-source industry standard that has processed over $1 billion in onchain equity as of June 2025, with significant continued growth into Q3 2025.
In September 2025, Fairmint launched "Observer Nodes" on Canton Network, a technology that directly addresses regulatory oversight. It allows compliance firms and regulators to monitor activity in real-time and flag potential violations without compromising personal or institutional privacy. This solution was developed following Fairmint's extensive engagement with the SEC in 2025 on frameworks to modernize the $6 trillion private securities market. As market demand for compliant onchain equity increases, Fairmint is positioned as the leading cap table and transfer agent provider on Canton.
FCX
FCX, a subsidiary of FinClear, is the first fully regulated DLT-enabled platform for private markets. In a historic move in October 2024, it received dual licensing from Australian regulators (ASIC and the RBA) to operate as both an exchange and a clearing and settlement facility. This makes FCX the only market in Australia, outside of the ASX, with complete trading, clearing, and settlement capabilities.
The platform tokenizes assets like private company shares and managed investment units, enabling instant settlement, fractional ownership, and transparent share registers. As of October 2025, over $3 billion in private-company assets are recorded on its platform. As an official Canton Network ecosystem member, FCX serves as a key provider for regulated tokenization, bridging private market infrastructure with Canton's institutional blockchain architecture.
Galaxy Digital
Galaxy Digital, a leading institutional digital asset provider trusted by 1,500 institutional trading counterparties and managing $17 billion in assets as of September 2025, operates as an active validator and liquidity provider on the Canton Network.
For the Canton Network, Galaxy provides institutional-grade self-custody and digital asset management through its subsidiary, GK8, which it acquired in February 2023. GK8's patented technology enables institutions to secure assets in its Impenetrable Vault, an air-gapped cold storage system that can execute blockchain transactions without internet connectivity, alongside a separate Unlimited Multi-Party Computation (uMPC) solution for automated transactions with unlimited co-signers.
This combination allows Galaxy to offer a universal suite of services on Canton, providing regulated self-custody, tokenization, staking optimization, and collateral management, all tailored for institutional control and compliance.
HKEX Synapse
HKEX Synapse is a settlement platform that streamline and standardize post-trade workflows for investors participating in the Northbound Stock Connect. Launched in October 2023, Synapse uses smart contracts (DAML) to eliminate sequential settlement steps and provide real-time visibility to all market participants including managers, brokers, and custodians. This enables trades across Hong Kong and Mainland China equity markets to be processed concurrently.
The platform addresses a critical challenge in Stock Connect: while trades happen instantly, settlement previously relied on manual, complex solutions. By creating a single source of truth for instructions, Synapse reduces settlement risk and operational complexity.
Hydra X
Hydra X, a Singapore-based and MAS-regulated company, provides complete market infrastructure for both digital and traditional finance. As a key participant on the Canton Network, Hydra X uses Digital Asset utilities to tokenize, distribute, and provide custody for assets. In November 2024, the company became the first licensed custodian in APAC for Canton Coin, enabling regulated digital asset services in the region. SBI Ven Capital was the first partner to use this service, gaining Canton's privacy features while remaining fully compliant.
In April 2025, Hydra X launched the Sigma Value Token, the first tokenized structured product on the network. This high-yield note, developed with Sigma Value, demonstrated how Canton can support complex financial products for institutional investors. By September 2025, Hydra X was acting as a bridge between finance types by offering integrated custody for both digital assets and traditional securities. This service includes connectivity to global networks like Euroclear, showing how tokenization can be integrated directly into existing institutional systems rather than running on separate platforms.
Nasdaq
Nasdaq, a leading global market infrastructure provider, integrated its Calypso risk and collateral management platform with the Canton Network in June 2025. In a proof-of-concept with partners QCP, Primrose Capital, and Digital Asset, Nasdaq demonstrated 24/7 automated margin and collateral workflows across multiple asset classes, including crypto derivatives, fixed income, and over-the-counter derivatives. This integration addresses a major inefficiency where billions of dollars in collateral are trapped in traditional settlement cycles. By using Canton's atomic settlement, Nasdaq Calypso users can achieve instant settlement, freeing up previously locked capital.
Beyond collateral management, Nasdaq's Marketplace Technology division developed institutional-grade infrastructure for carbon credits using Daml smart contracts. This platform automates the verification, issuance, and settlement of carbon credits, creating standardized and auditable digital assets designed to reduce fragmentation in carbon markets.
Puro.earth, the world's leading carbon dioxide removal crediting platform, operates as a primary client of Nasdaq's carbon technology. Since its launching in 2019, Puro.earth has issued over 1 million CO₂ Removal Certificates (CORCs), more than any other engineered carbon removal standard, with issuance accelerating significantly throughout 2025. In September 2025, Puro.earth secured €11 million in Series B funding led by Nasdaq to strengthen certification infrastructure and expand issuance capacity, with expectations to reach 2 million certificates before mid-2026. The integration of Nasdaq's smart contract infrastructure with Puro.earth's certified carbon removal credentials enables institutional-grade mechanisms for transparent, auditable carbon markets.
Together, these initiatives position Nasdaq as a critical bridge between traditional finance and digital assets, enabling real-time capital efficiency while supporting verified carbon removal at institutional scale.
Taurus
A Swiss-based, FINMA-regulated company, Taurus provides a platform for institutions to handle digital assets. This includes the custody, issuance, and management of cryptocurrencies, tokenized securities, and digital currencies. The company serves over 40 institutional clients, including State Street, CACEIS, Deutsche Bank, and Zand Bank.
Taurus is deeply integrated with the Canton Network, contributing custody infrastructure, managing tokenized assets, and participating in the network activities. In 2025, the company's work gained industry recognition. In May, State Street and Taurus won "Digital Asset Partnership of the Year" at the Global Custodian Awards. Taurus also expanded its market presence, partnering with Turkish banks like BankPozitif to launch cryptocurrency custody services.
Texture Capital
Texture Capital, a FINRA member and SEC-registered broker-dealer, is bringing its institutional infrastructure to the Canton Network. In January 2025, the company began deploying its Alternative Trading System (ATS) and transfer agent services on the network. As a validator, apps provider, and market infrastructure participant, Texture Capital contributes the institutional-grade services essential for regulated secondary trading of tokenized securities. This combination provides institutions with a compliant, auction-based system for trading, while the transfer agent service maintains the official records of securities ownership.
Beyond its institutional focus on Canton, Texture Capital received regulatory approval in October 2025 to launch SoloTex. This separate retail platform, set to launch in late 2025, will offer U.S. investors 24/7 trading of tokenized U.S. equities with stablecoin settlement.
Zodia Custody
Zodia Custody, an institutional digital asset platform and the first bank-backed custodian, joined the Canton Network in July 2025 serving as validator and custodian supporting Canton Coin. The company is heavily regulated, with registrations in the UK (FCA), Ireland, Luxembourg, and Hong Kong, and applies compliance standards aligned with the CASS, 5AMLD and the FATF Travel Rule.
In addition to its foundational role on Canton, Zodia offers a multi-product platform that includes Interchange, an off-venue settlement network for secure trading. In October 2025, the firm expanded its institutional offerings by launching Ethereum Pectra staking in partnership with Blockdaemon and Twinstake. This combination of bank-backed governance and advanced services positions Zodia Custody as a secure institutional gateway to the digital asset ecosystem.
Conclusion
This foundational layer is the most important piece of the Canton ecosystem. It is not an experiment or a "proof of concept", it is a live, production-grade environment. The participation of the world's most regulated financial institutions, like Goldman Sachs, BNY Mellon, and Broadridge, provides the trust and stability the system needs. These companies are not just testing the waters, they have built core parts of their operations on the network.
They provide the regulated rails, the custody solutions, and the high-volume settlement that the digital asset economy needs to function. This "bedrock" is what makes it possible for trillions of dollars in assets to move on-chain securely. It solves the first and biggest hurdle for institutional adoption: trust.
In Part 2 we will delve into the developments taking shape above it, highlighting platforms for tokenized assets and the innovative payment systems that operate on this infrastructure.
The information provided by DAIC, including but not limited to research, analysis, data, or other content, is offered solely for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice, financial advice, trading advice, or any other type of advice. DAIC does not recommend the purchase, sale, or holding of any cryptocurrency or other investment.
