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Digital Asset official says Canton Network offers privacy‑first blockchain for regulated finance
Summary
A Digital Asset policy director told the Commission to Study that the Canton Network is a privacy‑enabled public blockchain designed so banks can move books and records on chain, shorten settlement times and preserve compliance controls; members pressed for clarity on DTCC’s pilot and regulatory access.
Julie, director of policy and government affairs at Digital Asset, told the Commission to Study that the Canton Network is a “privacy‑enabled public blockchain” built to let regulated financial institutions tokenize assets while preserving the privacy and control they need to meet AML, sanctions and books‑and‑records obligations.
The presentation, delivered during the commission’s public meeting, framed tokenization as a way to shorten settlement times — from days or weeks to near‑instant — and argued that Canton combines permissionless participation with per‑participant disclosure controls. “Each financial institution can decide what to reveal,” Julie said, describing Canton’s sub‑network architecture and the global synchronizer that coordinates transactions across applications.
Why it matters: commissioners said the technology could affect how banks, exchanges and even municipal recordkeepers move and record value. Julie highlighted existing industry participants — Broadridge, Circle and others — and cited a recent decision by DTCC to use Canton in a phased pilot to tokenize U.S. Treasuries under an SEC no‑action letter, an arrangement she said will include reporting obligations to the agency.
Members pressed Julie on policy and security. Seth Thornburg asked whether the industry’s business models hinge on congressional clarity around token incentives; Julie said Digital Asset has not taken a position on token rewards but supports clearer statutory taxonomy so investors are not misled. Commissioners asked whether DTCC’s implementation will permit tracing ownership within omnibus accounts; Julie said DTCC will start with Treasuries and she would follow up with implementation details.
On interoperability and security, Julie warned about bridge vulnerabilities and said Canton favors an integrated approach with permissioned controls for regulators and institutions. She also described the network’s governance: super‑validators are voted on with a two‑thirds threshold to become global coordinators.
The commission did not vote on policy today; Julie offered to provide follow‑up materials and technical staff to answer deeper questions.
