Canton Network: An Institutional Blockchain

What Makes Canton Different

When Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas, and Deutsche Börse all test the same blockchain infrastructure, you know something interesting is happening. Canton Network isn’t another speculative DeFi protocol—it’s the institutional blockchain that solved the privacy problem plaguing enterprise adoption for years.

Think of Canton as a city where every building is its own private ledger, connected by secure corridors. Unlike Ethereum where everyone sees every transaction, Canton maintains transaction-level privacy—only the parties involved can see the details. This isn’t just nice-to-have for banks; it’s table stakes.

Canton’s selective visibility allows institutions to maintain their own sub-ledgers while achieving atomic transactions across the network—privacy and interoperability without compromise.

The magic happens through selective visibility. Each institution maintains its own sub-ledger while connecting to others through the Global Synchronizer—a decentralized interoperability layer operated by 26 Super Validators, represented by major companies.

When two parties transact, the data is selectively disclosed: only participants (and explicitly permitted observers) can view it. The rest of the network cannot inspect the business payload- privacy is enforced by the protocol and the ledger model.

The numbers tell the story: by late 2025, Canton was processing over 600,000 daily transactions, managing $6 trillion in tokenized assets, and settling $280 billion in daily repo transactions. This isn’t a testnet anymore—it’s production infrastructure for institutional finance.

What Is DAML and How Does It Differ from Solidity?

Canton uses Daml, a Haskell-based smart contract language specifically designed for financial workflows.

Solidity/EVM and Daml represent fundamentally different approaches to distributed ledger architecture. While both enable smart contract functionality, they differ significantly in how they handle state management, visibility, and privacy.

Solidity/EVM:

• A contract represents code + state located at a specific address within the network
• Transactions modify a global state that is replicated and verified across the entire network
• All state changes are publicly visible and synchronized among all network participants

Daml:

• State is expressed through contractual “facts” (contract creation/archival events)
• Visibility of changes is determined by stakeholder/observer relationships
• Privacy is built into the ledger model and operates at the subtransaction level

Key Architectural Differences

The fundamental difference is that Solidity/EVM operates on a global, transparent ledger model, while Daml implements a privacy-preserving, role-based access model where participants only see the subset of ledger state relevant to them as stakeholders or observers.

Canton Network Development: From Sandbox to Production

Building on Canton follows a structured progression through several environments, each serving a distinct purpose in your journey to production.

Canton Sandbox Setup: Your Development Playground

Start here. LocalNet runs entirely on your laptop—a self-contained environment. It’s resource-intensive (you’ll want 8GB RAM minimum) but perfect for rapid iteration.

Prerequisites for Canton development:

• Docker Desktop with 8GB+ RAM allocation
• Access to cn-quickstart GitHub repository
• Basic understanding of Daml smart contracts
• Terminal/command line proficiency

The Canton Network Quickstart provides everything you need: a Docker-based setup and observability tools.

Understanding the Sandbox Environment

The Canton sandbox is more than just a local testing environment—it’s a fully functional, self-contained Canton instance that runs entirely on your development machine. Built on top of Splice LocalNet, the sandbox provides developers with a complete Canton ecosystem including participant nodes, a local Super Validator, synchronization domains, and all necessary infrastructure services without requiring external network connectivity.

Canton’s architecture differs fundamentally from traditional blockchains. Instead of connecting to a single global chain, you’re orchestrating multiple participant nodes that communicate through sync domains.

The sandbox runs as a Java process (Canton is written in Scala) against either an H2 or Postgres database, making it immediately familiar to developers from traditional enterprise backgrounds. When you run daml sandbox (or daml start), you start a local Canton-based sandbox ledger for rapid prototyping; daml start can also launch Daml Navigator (deprecated since Daml 2.9.0 and scheduled for removal in Daml 3.0). The sandbox can be configured to expose metrics.

What makes the sandbox powerful: even on a single local participant you can allocate many parties and simulate rich multi-party workflows—e.g., a three-way atomic swap—entirely on your laptop. If you need a true multi-participant topology, you run multiple participant nodes (typically as separate processes/services) and connect them to the same synchronizer/domain.

The Canton (and Daml) quickstarts provide pre-built sample apps and reference patterns—multi-party workflow demos (often modeled as IOUs or simple assets), Ledger API integration examples, and guidance for OIDC-based authentication (e.g., Keycloak) in more realistic deployments. This means you can iterate locally (write Daml, test multi-party flows in a sandbox, build your APIs against the Ledger API) and then move to a DevNet-like environment without redesigning your application model from scratch.

How to Deploy Canton App Locally

Getting started with the Canton sandbox requires minimal prerequisites but proper resource allocation. The setup process is streamlined:

1. Authentication: Run docker login to authenticate with Docker repositories
2. SDK Installation: Execute make install-daml-sdk to install the Daml SDK (this can take several minutes)
3. Environment Configuration: Run make setup to configure your local environment
4. Build: make build compiles your application
5. Launch: make start launches the entire stack

During setup, you’ll choose whether to enable:

• OAuth2 authentication (adds Keycloak but requires more memory)
• Observability tools (Grafana and Prometheus for monitoring)
• Test mode options for faster iteration

For production-like persistence, configure Postgres instead of the default in-memory H2 database. The quickstart includes helper scripts in config/util/postgres:

bash

./db.sh start # Launch Postgres ./db.sh setup # Initialize databases

Development cycles are fast. Spin up your environment with make start, deploy your Daml contracts, test your workflows, and iterate.

Canton DevNet Access: Testing with Real Infrastructure

Once your application works locally, Canton DevNet is where things get real. This environment connects to actual decentralized Global Synchronizer infrastructure operated by Super Validators.

Requirements for Canton DevNet access:

DevNet resets every three months and always receives protocol upgrades first. This makes it ideal for testing how your application handles network changes before they hit production.

The process: your sponsor submits your IP for whitelisting, you wait 2-7 days for Super Validators to update their allowlists, then you’re in.

Canton TestNet Guide and MainNet Deployment

TestNet is the production staging environment. Getting here requires approval from the GSF Tokenomics Committee—you apply through sync.global once you’re within two weeks of production readiness. This isn’t automatic; the committee evaluates whether your application provides real utility to the network.

MainNet is where the money flows. The approval process mirrors TestNet, but the stakes are higher:

• Real assets under management
• Real users and transaction volume
• Real Canton Coin rewards
• Production-level SLAs and monitoring

Your sponsor submits a request to the Featured Applications and Validators committee, and upon approval, you’re live on the Global Synchronizer.

One crucial detail: node operators typically run nodes in all three environments simultaneously. This allows you to test mainnet upgrades on DevNet, validate on TestNet, and only then push to MainNet with confidence.

Canton Coin Reward Model: How Activity Markers Generate CC

Canton flipped blockchain economics on its head. There was no ICO, no pre-mine, no VC allocation. Every Canton Coin in circulation was earned through network participation. The question is: how?

The Three Revenue Streams

Validators earn by simply staying online. Keep your node running, connected to the Global Synchronizer, and you mint “validator liveness rewards” every 10 minutes. It’s proof-of-participation, not proof-of-stake.

Super Validators secure the Global Synchronizer itself and initially captured about 80% of rewards. This made sense—someone had to bootstrap the infrastructure. But here’s the interesting part: by mid-2029, their share drops to just 20%. The economics deliberately shift toward application providers as the network matures.

Application providers capture the big prize. From January 2026, featured apps receive 62% of the total reward pool—roughly 516 million CC monthly. This is where Canton activity markers come in.

Canton Activity Markers: Proof of Utility

An activity marker is Canton’s way of saying “this transaction created real value.” Featured applications create these markers for economically important events:

• Minting or burning tokens
• Transferring real-world assets
• Locking or unlocking RWAs
• Settlement of trades
• Stablecoin transfers

Revenue Multiplier: Featured apps can mint up to 100x more Canton Coin than the fees burned by their transactions, plus bonus weight for CC transactions.

The technical implementation is straightforward but elegant. Your Canton Daml development code must:

1. Depend on the splice-api-featured-app-v1.dar package
2. Accept a ContractId FeaturedAppRight argument
3. Call FeaturedAppRight_CreateActivityMarker within the transaction

Each marker you create earns minting rights. The formula is simple but powerful: featured apps can mint up to 100x more Canton Coin than the fees burned by their transactions. Plus, they get bonus weight—every CC transaction gets credited as if $1 in additional fees was burned.

What this means in practice: if your app facilitates a Canton Coin transfer, you immediately earn the right to mint at least $100 worth of CC at launch rates. This number declines as more apps join, but early movers have significant advantages.

The Burn-Mint Equilibrium

Canton uses a clever mechanism called Burn-Mint Equilibrium (BME):

• All network fees are burned, removing CC from circulation
• New CC is minted every 10 minutes based on network activity
• Target: 2.5 billion CC annually minted and burned
• Token value tied to network usage, not speculation

The first ten years have a total supply cap of roughly 100 billion CC. After that? A constant 2.5 billion CC per year becomes available. But the actual supply depends entirely on how much gets burned through fees. High activity means high burn, potentially creating deflationary pressure.

Early applications like Hashnote USYC and Brale established strong positions, earning 100-500M CC monthly. But the reward split is widening as more apps join, creating opportunities for newcomers who provide genuine utility.

How to Build on Canton: Getting Your App Featured

Not all applications are equal on Canton. There’s a critical distinction between regular apps and featured apps, and the difference directly impacts your revenue potential.

What Featured Status Means

Regular applications:

• Strict minting caps regardless of usage
• Limited reward potential
• No activity marker benefits

Featured applications:

• No minting caps
• Minting rights proportional to network activity
• 100x multiplier and bonus weight applied
• Access to 62% of reward pool

Featured status is granted by the GSF Tokenomics Committee. The criteria boil down to one question: does your application provide real utility to Canton Network participants? This isn’t about technology for technology’s sake—it’s about solving actual problems for real users.

The Application Process

When you’re within two weeks of production readiness, initiate the process at sync.global. You’ll need:

• Working application deployed on DevNet/TestNet
• Evidence of real utility (what problem are you solving?)
• Technical documentation showing proper integration
• Demonstration of transaction volume or user adoption

The committee reviews applications regularly, looking for production-ready solutions that drive meaningful network activity. Early applications that got featured—USYC, Brale, Digital Asset’s tokenization utilities, Denex Gas Station—all had clear value propositions and were processing real transactions.

The Approval Timeline

This isn’t instant. The review process involves technical evaluation and consideration of broader network effects. Your sponsor submits the request to the Featured Applications and Validators committee at the Global Synchronizer Foundation.

Evaluation criteria:

• Production readiness: Is your app stable and fully functional?
• Network utility: Does it enable new use cases or improve existing workflows?
• Transaction volume: Are you generating meaningful activity?
• Compliance: Does your app meet regulatory requirements for your use case?

Once approved, your application gets the ability to create activity markers. From that point forward, every economically important transaction in your app generates minting rights. Your revenue scales with adoption.

The Competitive Landscape

Here’s where strategy matters. Early featured apps captured outsized rewards due to lower competition. As of late 2025, applications like USYC (a tokenized treasury fund), Brale (stablecoin issuance), and various tokenization platforms were splitting the 62% application reward pool.

The calculation is straightforward: Your app transactions / Total network transactions × Monthly app rewards × CC price = Your monthly potential

At roughly 5 TPS average network activity and 516M CC monthly rewards, a new featured app capturing just 1% of network transactions could earn significant recurring revenue. But the key word is “featured”—without that status, your rewards are capped at minimal levels.

Canton Development Tutorial: Technical FAQ

How long does it take to deploy a Canton application?

The timeline depends on your experience level and application complexity:

• Sandbox development: 1-2 weeks for simple applications
• DevNet deployment: 2-7 days for whitelisting after sponsor approval
• TestNet approval: 1-2 weeks review by GSF Tokenomics Committee
• MainNet launch: Similar to TestNet, plus production hardening

Total: 6-12 weeks from concept to MainNet for a well-prepared team.

What programming languages can I use with Canton?

Canton’s primary smart contract language is Daml. For application backends and APIs, you can use any language that can interact with the Ledger API:

• TypeScript/JavaScript (official SDK)
• Python (official SDK)
• Java/Scala (native support)
• Go (community support)

Do I need to run my own validator node?

Not necessarily. You have three options:

1. Run your own validator - earn liveness rewards, full control
2. Use a validator service provider - easier operations, shared rewards
3. Connect as a participant only - no validator rewards, lowest overhead

For featured apps focused on activity markers, option 3 is often sufficient.

How much does it cost to run Canton infrastructure?

LocalNet: Free (runs on your laptop)

DevNet: Minimal costs (VPN, static IP ~$20-50/month)

MainNet Validator:

• Cloud infrastructure: $200-500/month
• Bandwidth: $50-200/month
• Monitoring/ops tools: $100-300/month
• Total: ~$500-1,000/month for basic setup

Featured app rewards can exceed infrastructure costs within the first month of meaningful usage.

What’s the difference between Canton Network and other enterprise blockchains?

Canton uniquely combines public network benefits with enterprise-grade privacy.

Can I migrate existing smart contracts to Canton?

Direct migration from Solidity or other languages isn’t possible—you’ll need to rewrite in Daml. However, Daml’s structure often results in cleaner, more maintainable code for financial workflows. Budget 2-4 weeks for rewriting a moderately complex DeFi contract.

The Institutional Advantage

Canton solves problems other blockchains don’t even acknowledge. Traditional finance requires Basel III compliance, regulatory reporting, and counterparty controls. Public chains like Ethereum force everything into the open. Private chains create silos with no interoperability.

Privacy-Preserving Interoperability: Canton lets you maintain control over who sees what, while still achieving atomic transactions across different institutions.

Canton delivers privacy-preserving interoperability. You maintain control over who sees what, while still achieving atomic transactions across different institutions. When Bank of America executes 24/7 on-chain Treasury trades, or when Deutsche Börse settles repos on weekends, they’re using Canton’s selective transparency to maintain competitive advantages while gaining blockchain efficiency.

The validation is in the funding:

• June 2025: Digital Asset raised $135M in Series E, led by DRW and Tradeweb, with participation from Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas, DTCC, and Citadel Securities
• October 2025: DRW and Liberty City Ventures assembled a $500M token treasury vehicle specifically for Canton Coin

These aren’t retail speculators—they’re institutions with skin in the game.

The Reality Check

Canton isn’t for everyone. If you’re building a consumer DeFi app or launching the next meme coin, look elsewhere. This is infrastructure for serious financial applications.

Consider Canton if you’re building:

• Tokenization platforms for real-world assets
• Asset registries and custody solutions
• Settlement infrastructure for institutions
• Institutional-grade DeFi applications
• Cross-border payment systems
• Supply chain finance solutions

Canton may not be right if:

• You need rapid retail user onboarding
• Your app requires public transparency by design
• You’re targeting consumer-facing DeFi
• You lack institutional partnerships or sponsors

The invite-only phase means you need connections or credibility to get started. The approval processes take time. You’ll run nodes in three environments simultaneously, consuming real infrastructure resources.

But if you’re building tokenization platforms, asset registries, settlement infrastructure, or institutional-grade applications, Canton offers something unique: a blockchain where privacy isn’t an afterthought, where the reward structure actually benefits builders, and where the world’s largest financial institutions are already transacting.

Ready to Build on Canton Network?

At Unistory, we’ve worked hands-on with Canton’s technology stack, helping projects move from sandbox prototypes to production-ready applications on MainNet.

Whether you’re tokenizing real-world assets, building settlement infrastructure, or creating the next featured application to capture Canton Coin rewards, our blockchain development services are designed to accelerate your path to market.

Fill out the form below, and our team will reach out to discuss how we can help you leverage Canton’s institutional-grade blockchain infrastructure for your specific use case.