A new blockchain network aimed at financial institutions is being formed by players from the financial and tech sectors, including companies such as Microsoft and Goldman Sachs.
According to a May 9 announcement, Canton Network will be a privacy-enabled interoperable blockchain network designed to serve those who use institutional assets. It will allow "previously siled" financial markets to synchronize.
The network will begin testing its capabilities in July, which include extensive privacy controls and the ability to achieve the scale and performance required by major financial institutions. Participants in the network currently include BNP Paribas, Cboe Global Markets , Digital Asset, Paxos, Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, Deloitte and others.
Cathy Clay, executive vice president of Cboe Global Markets, one of the partners in the project, said that if harnessed, blockchain technology could “unlock” new opportunities in the market. "The tokenization of real-world assets may offer unprecedented opportunities to create new market infrastructures and improve the efficiency of global product transactions."
Canton is built on top of Daml, Digital Asset's smart contract language, which creates an interoperable system where “assets, data, and cash” can be synchronized between linked applications. As the crypto winter shows signs of thawing, institutional investor in investment and industry interest continues.
In March, Cathie Wood's ARK Investment bought about $18 million worth of Coinbase stock, equivalent to about 269,928 shares. According to a Goldman Sachs study released on May 8, 32% of family offices are currently invested in digital assets. On May 3, security token platform INX launched a new MPC wallet for institutional investors to control assets and employees to access such assets.
