Digital Asset Raises $135 Million to Push Canton Network

Digital Asset, which created and operates the Canton Network, has raised a further $135 million to progress that blockchain network in a funding round led by DRW Venture Capital and Tradeweb Markets.

The new capital will expand the integration of hundreds of billions of real-world assets (RWAs) onto Canton, the firm claims, building upon its deployment of diverse asset classes, including bonds, money market funds, alternative funds, commodities, repurchase agreements (repos), mortgages, life insurance, and annuities. Digital Asset further claims that Canton is the only “public, permissionless Layer-1 blockchain that offers configurable privacy and institutional-grade compliance at scale”.

The firm also highlights how the raise deepens its relationship with several firms already part of the Canton Network and its Global Synchronizer Foundation, including BNP Paribas, DRW, Goldman Sachs, Liberty City Ventures, QCP, and Tradeweb, all of whom have played various roles in either the testing, governance, infrastructure, or app development on the Network since its inception. It adds that this “inevitable next phase of financial infrastructure” has nearly 400 ecosystem participants from both the DeFi and TradFi worlds.

“Digital Asset and Canton are addressing real-world challenges in financial markets, not just theoretical concepts,” observes Billy Hult, CEO of Tradeweb. “The fact that such a wide range of asset classes are already integrated onto Canton is an important sign that this network is ready for mainstream finance.”